* 



Map of 

*an & Eastern j au ikh 



from th.e Surveys of 




TAV SCHUMACHER ,C.E. 


meed from th.e One inch. Seal 




>y GEO . ARMSTRONG , &r the 




OF THE PALESTINE EXPLOR 


ATIC 


Scale - I of an inch, to a Mile . 


; 


14 5 6 7 




( 

^ Tell el Muntar 






Jihnio. (§ 




PSkuBveb. .JffS 






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I 

R 



ACROSS THE JORDAN : 



AN EXPLORATION AND SURVEY OF PART 
OF HAURAN AND J A ULAN. 



y by 

GOTTLIEB SCHUMACHER, C.E. 



WITH ADDITIONS BY 
LAURENCE OLIPHANT and GUY LE STRANGE. 



NEW YORK : 
SCRIBNER AND WELFORD, 
743 and 745, BROADWAY. 
1886. 




b ^ 



PREFACE. 



The circumstances which made the following work 
possible are these : 

About a year ago a firman was granted giving leave 
to survey the district lyingbetween Damacus and Haifa, 
with a view to the construction of a railway. The 
concessionnaires appointed as their surveyor for the 
portion of country east of the Jordan Herr Gottlieb 
Schumacher, that part lying between Haifa and the 
River having been already surveyed by the officers of 
this Society for their great Map of Western Palestine. 
In the course of his work Herr Schumacher found 
it necessary, as well as possible, to make many 
scientific observations, notes, maps, and drawings 
which he afterwards embodied in the memoir which 
forms the greater part of this volume. The Map, a 
reduction of which is here published, covers an 
area of 240 square miles, partly in the Hauran, 



IV 



PREFACE. 



partly in the Jaulan, a district never before surveyed, 
and very seldom crossed by the traveller. With the 
view of giving a more permanent form to the already 
published papers by Mr. Laurence Oliphant and Mr 
Guy le Strange on their own travels in trans- 
Jordanic country, they are incorporated with the 
volume. The best thanks of the Society are due to 
Mr. Guy le Strange for the trouble he has taken 
in editing the volume. Herr Schumacher sent home 
his memoir, written in English, which naturally 
required, here and there, the change of an idiom. 
Mr. Le Strange has also provided the Index. The 
beautiful and careful illustrations which enrich this 
volume, have all been specially made from Herr 
Schumacher's own drawings and plans. They will 
be found in no way inferior to those drawn for the 
Memoirs of the Survey by the officers who executed 
that great work. They are not only drawn and 
engraved for this work, but they are also, for the 
most part, entirely new, representing ruins and sites 
never before sketched or surveyed. 

Herr Schumacher has been enabled to survey for 
the Society another portion of the country, the maps 
and memoirs of which are expected very shortly. 



PREFACE. 



It is necessary to add, and to insist strongly, that 
in this, as in every other publication of the Society, all 
identifications, theories, and speculations belong to the 
writer and must not be considered or criticized as the work 
of the Society. The Palestine Exploration Fund 
advances as its own work, newly discovered facts, in 
the shape of maps, plans, sketches, observations, in- 
scriptions, etc., but is in no way responsible for any 
conclusions which may be drawn from them, either 
by the explorer or by his readers. 

W. B. 

i, Adam Street, Adelphi, 
November 20, 1885. 



CONTENTS. 



AN EXPLORATION AND SURVEY OF PART 
OF JAULAN AND HAURAN 
By G. Schumacher, C.E. 

CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

PAGE 

The plateau of Eastern Jaulan and Western Hauran — 
Jurisdiction of the Lieutenant-Governor or Mutasarrif of 
Hauran — Boundaries. 

I. Eastern Jaalan or Ez Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh — Its 
limits — Highest and lowest points — The Bedawin Szar, 
or sheepfolds — Geological formation — Trees — Soil and 
climate — Gorges — Cliffs — Tell el Ehdeib — Watershed — 
Perennial streams : (i) The Shari'at el Menadireh — The 
names Ehreir, 'Irak, Yarmuk, and Hieromax — Its course 
— Tributaries — The Wady Ku'eilby, the Wady ez Zeyyatin, 
and the Wady Keleit— The 'Arab el Menadireh— Mills. 

(2) The Nahr er Rukkad — Its course — The Jisr 
er Rukkad — Tributaries — Wady Seisun — Waterfall. 

(3) The Nahr el 'Allan— Its course— The Jisr el 'Allan— 
Wady Beit Akkar — El Ghadir — Wady ej Jebeleh — Roads 
— Roman road — Paths. 



viii 



CONTENTS. 



2. Western Haurdn — Its limits — Geological formation — 
Soil — Extinct volcanoes — Cultivation — Bedavvin— Crops 
— Price of Corn — Proposed railway — Trees — Watershed 
— Perennial streams. (i) Wady el Ehreir, or 'Irak 
(Yarmuk and Hieromax) — Its course — Gorge of the 
Ehreir. (2) Wady el Bajjeh — Its course — Bahret el 
Bajjeh — Waterfall — Becomes Wady Tell esh Shehab or 
Wady et Tell — Mills. (3) Moyet Zeizun — Its course — 
Bahret Zeizun. (4) Wady esh Shefeil. (5) Wady el 
Yabis — Becomes Wady Kefr es Samir. (6) Moyet en 
Neby Ayyub or Moyet esh Sheikh Sa 1 ad — Its course — 
Trees planted along its banks. (7) Wady el Lubwah — 
Mills. (8) Wady el 'Ajamy— Bahret el 'Ajamy. (9) 
Wfidy Babis. (10) Wady Jebeleh. (11) El Emshiyad;it 
— Bahret el Ash'ary — Mills. (12) Wady el Emheiris. 
(13) Wady esh Shelaleh — Roads — The Darb el Hajj — 
Telegraph — Villages marked on the map. 1-40 

CHAPTER II. 

EASTERN JAULAN. 

Villages, ruins, and names met with in the district of Ez 
Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh or Eastern Jaulan. 41-102 



CHAPTER III. 

WESTERN HAURAN. 

Villages, ruins, names of places, and Bedawin tribes met 
with in the district of Western Hauran. 103-242 



CONTENTS. 



ix 



A TRIP TO THE NORTH-EAST OF LAKE 
TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN 
By Laurence Oliphant. 

PAGE 

El 'Araj — EtTell— Bethsaida-Julias— The site of the 
Miracle of the Five Loaves and Two Fishes — Mes'adiyeh 
— Ruin of synagogue at Ed Dikkeh — Carved stones — 
Umm El'Ajaj — El Hasaniyeh — Ruins — Wady ed Dalieh 
— Wady Jeramaya — W&dy Shukeyif — El 'Akib — Ruins 
— Dukah Kefr 'Akib — Wady es Samak — Proposed line 
of railway— El 'Adeseh — Ruins — Village of El 'Al — 
Statue, representing possibly Diana — Nab — Ez Zeituneh 
— Khisfin — Crusading and other ruins — Esfera spring — 
Tell el Muntar — Dolmens — Baldwin's Castle — Umm el 
Kanatir— Ruin of Synagogue — Greek inscriptions from 
Tiberias. 243-267 

A RIDE THROUGH' AJLUN AND THE BELKA 
DURING THE AUTUMN OF 1884. 
By Guy le Strange. 

Khan el Ahmar — Goliath's River — Beisan — The Ghor — 
Pella or Tabakat Fahl — Springs — Necropolis Wady 
Yabis — Jedeidah — Urjan — Forest of 'Ajlun — Cisterns and 
ruins — Town of 'Ajlun — Mosque and Minaret — The use 
of a hammock — The Castle of Rabad — View over the 
Jordan Valley and mountains of 'Ajlun— Cavern— 'Ain 
Janna — Extracting of olive oil — Suf — Coins — Ruins — 
Deir el Leyyeh — Jerash or Gerasa — Circassian colonists 
— Neby Hud — The road from Jerash to 'Amman — Wady 
Riyashi — ZerkS, river, the Biblical Jabbok — Og and 
Sihon — Bedawin camp — Yenbut and oleanders — Village 
of 'Aluk— ' Arab Circles' — Sarruj — Camp of Beni Hasan 



X 



CONTENTS. 



— Wady Khalla — Bell-wethers — Khurbet er Rumaneh — 
Bedawin camp — Columns — Roman road — Camp of 
'Adw&n — Ruins of Yajuz — Tomb of Sheikh Nimr of 
the 'Adwan — The depressed plain called Hemel Belka 
— Ploughing with camels — 'Amman, the Circassian 
colonists — The subterranean city of Rahab — Ar Rakim, 
and the Story of the Seven Sleepers — Khurbet Sar — 
Caves — Circassian village — Wady Sir — 'Arab Circles' — 
'Arak el Emir and its ruins— Umm el Madaris — Camp 
of Beni 'Abbad — View over Jericho plain — Zoar, Segor, 
Sughar, and Tell [esh Shaghur — Jordan ford — Jeru- 
salem. 268-323 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



ago 

FIG. PAGK 

1. Section of Roman Road near 'Ain Dakkar - 19 

2. Waterfall of Moyet, and village of, Zeizun - 31 

3. Greek Inscription at 'Abdin - - - 41 

4. Plan of Jama'ah at Abdin - - - 42 

5. Wall of Jama'ah at Abdin - - - - 43 

6. View of 'Arkub in Rahwah - - - - 44 

7. Section of Water-channel near 'Ain el Ekseir - 47 

8. Ornamentation on Sarcophagus - - 47 

9. Column of Roman Toll-house near Ain Dakkar - 49 

10. Stones of the same - - - - 50 

11. Plan and Elevation - - - - 51 

12. Corridor at Beit Akkar - - - - 54 

13. Loopholes in Wall - - - - - 54 

14. Head of Column at Beit Akkar - - - 55 

15. Plan of Jam'aah at Beit Akkar - - -56 

16. Doorway - - - - - 57 

17. Voussoir-stones of Arch - - - 58 

18. Bas-relief Ornament at the spring of the Arch - 58 

19. Basalt Columns - - - - - 59 

20. Plan of Ruins at Beit Akkar - - - 60 

21. View of Beit Akkar and its Gorge from the South - 61 

22. Dolmen near 'Ain Dakkar - - - 63 

23. Dolmen from the South - - - 64 

24. Western end of same - - - - 64 

25. Ground-plan of Dolmen with Headings - 65 

26. Dolmen without Headings, from the East - 66 

27. The same, from the North - - - 67 



xii 



LIST OF ILL UTSRA TIONS. 



FIG. PAGE 

28. Elevation and Plan of Dolmen near Khurbet 

Hamatah - - - - - 70 

29. View of the Head of the Shari'at el Menadireh, from 

near El Ekseir - - - - 73 

30. View of the Nahr er Rukkad, from Jamleh, with the 

Tell el Farras in the distance - - - 75 

31. Plan of the Jisr el 'Allan - - - 78 

32. Head-piece of Niche at Kefr el Ma - - 80 

33. Ancient Statue or Idol, found at Kefr el Ma, from a 

photograph (re-touched) - - - • - 81 

34. The Head of the Idol - - - - 81 

35. Altar found near Kefr el Ma - - - - 82 

36. Tomb at Esh Shejarah - - - 87 

37. Plan of Ancient Building at Sahem ej Jaulan, at 

present part of the Sheikh's House - - 93 

38. Ornamentation on Arch-stones at Sahem ej Jaulan - 94 

39. Interior of part of Sheikh's House at Sahem ej 

Jaulan - - - - - - 95 

40. Cross, Crescent, and Arrow in bas-relief on wall of 

the same - - - - - - 96 

41. Bas-relief Ornamentation over the South Door of the 

Sheikh's House at Sahem ej Jaulan - - 96 

42. 43. Crosses on Building at Sahem ej Jaulan - - 97 
44,45. Elevation and Section of Window - 97 

46. Ornamented Window - - - - 98 

47. Plan of Tomb at Sahem ej Jaulan - - 98 

48. Fragment of Greek Inscription - - 98 

49. Elevation and Section of Kanat Faraun at Ed 

Der'aah - - - - - - 124 

50. Stone with defaced Greek Inscription - - 125 

51. Plan showing, Basin, Kanat Fara'un, and portion of 

Wady Zeidy - ' - - - - 125 

52. Plan of Hummam Siknany at Ed Der'aah - - 127 

53. Plan of the Jama'ah and Keniseh at Ed Der'aah - 129 

54. Twisted Column in Jama'ah - - - - 130 

55. Greek Inscriptions on Stones in the Colonnade - 131 

56. Medany at Ed Der'aah - - - - 132 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



xiii 



FIG. PAGE 

57. Greek Inscription in the Serayah at Ed Der'aah - 134 

58. Basalt Block, with groove cut in it for a Stone Gate, 

Underground City of Ed Der'aah - 135 

59. Block, with Moulding - - - - 135 

60. Greek Inscription on Frieze - - - - 136 

61. Entrance to the Underground City at Ed Der'aah - 136 

62. Plan of Underground City of Ed Der'aah, - to face 137 

63. Stone Gate of Underground City - - - 137 

64. Columns supporting Roof of Underground City - 138 

65. Elevation and Plan of Mangers in Chamber c - 139 

66. Elevation and Plan of Lamp-holes - 140 

67. Bottle-shaped Cistern in Chamber K - - 142 

68. Stone with Arabic Inscription over Gateway - 146 

69. Mason-marks on Stones at Ed Dera'ah - - 147 

70. Roman Mouldings ----- 147 

71. Cross Ornament on Stones - 148 

72. Broken Stone with Arabic Inscription - - 148 

73. Dolmen at Tsil - - - - - 152 

74. Plan of the Town of El Mezeinb, - - to face 157 

75. Greek Inscription in the Court of the Kul'ah el 

'Atikah at El Mezeirib - - - 159 

76. Ornaments and Mouldings on Stones in North-west 

Tower of the Castle- - - - - 160 

77. Ornament on a Stone in the Jam'aah - - 160 

78. View of El Mezeinb and the Lake of El Bajjeh from 

the Kul'ah el 'Atikah - - - - 161 

79. The Mudafy at Nawa. - - - - 169 

80. Medany at Nawa. - - - - -171 
Si. Lintel Stone with Seven-branched Candlestick Orna- 
mentation at Nawa - - - - 172 

82. Doorway with Lintel Stones - - - - 173 

83. Ornamentation of Lintel of Gateway at Nawa. - 1 73 

84. Key-stone of an Arch, with representation of Seven- 

branched Candlestick, Jewish Jubilee Trumpet and 

Olive Branch, found at Nawa. - - - 174 

84a. Rudely carved Jewish Candlestick - - - 174 

85. Plan of Wely of Neby Sam at Nawa. - 176 



xiv 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



FIG. PAGE 

86. Fragment of Arabic Inscription at Wely Neby Sam- 177 

87. Greek Inscription - - - - - 178 

88. Greek Inscription - - - - - 178 

89. Plan of Mausoleum at Khurbet Samakh - - 181 

90. Square Capital of Column found in Mausoleum - 182 

91. Fragment of Sarcophagus with relief representing a 

Lion, from the Mausoleum - - - - 182 

92. Subterranean Building at Khurbet Samakh - - 183 

93. Stone, with Moulding, in Wall of Subterranean 

Chamber at Khurbet Samakh - - - 184 

94. Wheel in Bas-relief on Slab at Kefr es Samir - t 86 

95. View of Sheikh Sa'ad, from a photograph - - 187 

96. Plan of Jama'ah at Sheikh Sa'ad - - - 190 

97. Elevation of Arcades in the Jama'ah - - 190 

98. Niche with Marble Pillars - - - - 191 

99. The Sakhret Ayyub, or 'Rock of Job' - - 191 
100. View of El Merkez, from the North - - - 195 
ioi- Cross with A and Q in relief over Gateway of Deir 

Ayyub - 196 

102. Plan of the Makam Ayyub, or ' Grave of Job ' - 197 

103. Greek Inscription on Slab in the Wall - - 198 

104. Sketch of Outer Wall to the East of Tell esh Shehab 200 

105. Front, Side Elevation, and Section of Corinthian 

Capital found at Tell el Ash'ary - 204 

106. Monolith of Basalt near the Bahret el Ash'ary - 206 

107. View of Medany and Jama'ah at Tuffas - - 210 

108. Ground Plan of the Jama'ah - - - - 211 

109. Arches and Columns in Jama'ah at Tuffas - - 212 
no. Capital of a Column ----- 213 
III, 112. Ornamentation in Bas-relief on Voussoirs of 

Arch in Sheikh's House - . 214, 215 

113. Corbel with Acanthus Leaf - - - - 215 

114. South Facade of Sheikh's House - - - 216 

115. Ornamented Lintel and Jambs of Door - - 217 

116. Column with double Base - - - - 217 

117. Slab with Greek Inscription - 217 

118. Crosses found in the Walls at Tuffas - - - 218 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



xv 



FIG. PAGE 

119. Stone Mangers at El Tireh - - - , -220 

120. Greek Inscription at El Tireh - - - 221 

121. Plan of Jama'ah at Tsil - 224 

122. Columns supporting the Medany at Tsil - - 225 

123. Head-stone of Niche built into Wall of Jama'ah at 

Tsil ------- 225 

124. Door leading into the Jama'ah - 226 

125. Arcades of the Jama'ah - 226 
125a. Capitals of Pillars in Jama'ah - 227 

126. Niche B in Jama'ah ----- 228 

127. Capital of Column at C in the Jama'ah - - 228 

128. Ornamentation in Relief over Gateway of Sheikh's 

House ------ 229 

129. Greek Inscription on Stone in Sheikh's Yard at Tsil 229 

130. Drum of Twisted Column, in Basalt - - - 229 

131. Column at Yedudeh - 231 

132. Bas-relief on Lintel of a Door ... 232 

133. Leaf carved on Slab at Yedudeh - - - 232 

134. Cross on the wall - 232 

135. Part of Carved Lintel of Gate at Yedudeh - - 233 

136. Ruined Tank at Yedudeh - 234 

137. Column standing in the Bahret Zeizun . - - 236 

138. Carving on a Stone ----- 236 

139. Fragment of Entablature - 237 

140. Elevation and Section of Head of Pilaster - - 238 

141. Greek Inscription over Water-channel - - 239 

142. Greek Inscription at Zeizun - 240 

143. Slab with Greek Inscriptions - 240 

144. Plan of Ruin, supposed to be a Synagogue, at Ed 

Dikkeh - - - - - - 246 

145. Head-piece of Niche ----- 247 

146. Detail of Ornamentation - 248 

147. Triangular Stone Lintel of Door - 248 

148. Block carved in relief with winged Female Figure - 249 

149. Carved Cornice - 250 

150. Detail of Ornamentation - 250 

151. Ornamentation on Stones at Khisfin - - 257 



XVI 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



FIG. PAGE 

152. Figure of a Lion, on Slab at Umm el Kanatir - 261 

153. Moulding on Door-jambs at same - - - 263 

154. Figure of an Eagle in low-relief on Stone at Umm el 

Kanatir - - - . - - - 264 

155. Ornamented Lintel-stone - 265 

156. Greek Inscription from Tiberias 266 

157. Greek Inscription on Stone in the wall of Synagogue 

at Tiberias ------ 267 

MAPS AND PLANS. 

Map of part of Western Hauran and Eastern Jaulan, 

from the Surveys of G. Schumacher, C.E. Frontispiece 
Sections across Jaulan and Hauran - - to face p. 1 

Plan of Underground City of Ed Dera'ah - „ 137 

Plan of the Town of El Mezeirib - - „ 157 
Map of the North-East of Lake Tiberias and part 

of Jaulan - - - - '„ ■ 243 

Map of part of 'Ajlun and the Belka - „ 268 



EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN 
HAURAN. 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

The present map (on the scale of f of an inch to 
i mile) represents a portion of Eastern Jauldn or Ez 
Zawiyeh esh ShurMyeh and Western Haurdn, and con- 
tains about 240 square miles. The whole of this 
country consists of a high plateau. It is bounded 
on the south-west by the hills of 'Ajlun, and on the 
south by the Syrian Desert. In its extension from 
east to west it gradually slopes from the Jebel ed 
Drus down to the western banks of the high table- 
lands of Jaulan, which overhang the eastern shore of 
the Lake of Tiberias ; but it rises gradually from its 
southern to its northern limits, where occur the 

1 



2 EA STERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HA URAN. 



range of volcanic hills generally called Tellul el 
Hesh, and the high lands of Jedur. 

The country shown in the map forms a part of the 
Liwah, the Mutasarriftyeh or the Sanjak of the 
Hauran, whose Lieutenant-Governor or Mutasarrif 
resides at Sheikh Sa'ad. His jurisdiction, besides 
comprising the entire Hauran plateau, extends over 
the Jebel ed Drus, 'Ajlun, and the Jaulan ; and his 
district is divided into several Kaimakdmiyehs, of 
which one is the Kamakamiyeh of the Jaulan, with 
the seat of its government at El Kuneitrah. The 
Jaulan is further subdivided into three districts ; viz. r 
(i) the northern part round El Kuneitrah, called 
Esh Sharah ; (2) the southern and western part, Ez 
Zawiyeh el Ghurbiyeh ; and (3) the eastern part, Ez 
Zawiyeh esh ShurMyeh. 

The natural boundary, as also the political division 
recognised by the present government, between 
Hauran and Jaulan is the Nahr el 'Allan; the 
boundary between Jaulan and 'Ajlun is formed by 
the SharVat el Menddireh (the ancient Hieromax or 
Yarmuk) ; while that between the Hauran and 
'Ajlun is the Wddy esh Sheldleh. That portion of 
the Liwah of Hauran which is now surveyed is 
naturally divided into the two districts of (1) Eastern 
Jaulan or Ez Zawiyeh esh ShurMyeh, and (2) Western 
Hauran. 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



I. Eastern Jaulan or Ez Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh. 

This district of Jaulan is bounded on the south by 
the Shari'at el Menadireh, and on the north extends 
to the Jisrs (or Bridges) of 'A lldn and Rukkdd, or even 
as far as Ghadtr el Bustdn. On the east it is bounded 
by the gorge of the Nahr el 'Allan (Hauran), and on 
the west by the still more precipitous Nahr er 
Rukkad. Its highest elevation, at Ghadir el Bustdn, 
reaches 1,912 feet; while its lowest inhabited village, 
not counting the Bedawin huts at Kuweyyeh, is El 
Ekseiv, at 1,145 feet; but its average height may be 
put at 1,500 feet above the Mediterranean Sea. 
This high plateau is in its northern part (from 
Jamleh northwards) but little cultivated, except* in 
the vicinity of the villages, It is covered with a 
multitude of volcanic mounds — the so-called Rujm, 
of basaltic formation — the summits of which, fenced 
round by basalt blocks, are used for sheepfolds, and 
termed Siar by the Bedawin, who graze their flocks 
over this stony country, which produces a splendid 
pasture during the earlier spring. The appearance 
of these Siar from a distance is likely to lead to the 
false impression that the country is covered with 
ruins. Each of the tribes of the 'Arab el 'Anazeh, 
the Fuddel, and the Nu'em, who occupy this part of 
Jaulan, have their respective Siar or Isiar (folds), 
which they consider as their own, and return to 

1 — 2 



4 EA STERN fA ULAN AND WESTERN HA URAN. 

1 

every successive spring ; and should the Siar be 
forcibly annexed by another tribe, such an action is 
regarded as a challenge, and a dispute becomes un- 
avoidable. The Siar are generally known by the 
name of the tribe they belong to. This northern 
region of volcanic mounds is called Ej Jebal* 

The southern part of Eastern Jaulan, southwards 
from Jamleh, and east, west, and south from Esh 
Shejarah, is also of a basaltic formation, but bears a 
richer soil, being less stony, and is therefore more 
cultivated. The small tribe of 'Arab Izluf cultivates 
wheat and barley in the vicinity of the prosperous 
town of Esh Shejarah. The 'Arab el Menadireh 
camp in the valley of the ancient Hieromax, the 
Yarmuk River, or as it is now called, the Shari'at el 
Menadireh. On the high plateau there are but few 
trees ; there are, however, still here and there some 
remains of forests ; and single oaks and terebinths 

* Although, as is well known, the letter Jim (g) in classical 
Arabic is not counted as one of the ' Shamsiyeh ' — i.e., is not 
of those before which the / of the article al is to be assimilated 
—in the vulgar pronunciation of the Fellahin of Western Pales- 
tine, and more especially among the tribes east of the Jordan, it 
counts as such ; and they always pronounce 'Ej Jebal ' and not 
' El Jebal,' as is the rule in other countries, in accordance with 
the classical grammar. In the map and memoir, in order as 
much as possible to set down the exact local pronunciation of 
the names of places, I have adopted this Fellahin and un- 
grammatical usage of Jim as a'' Shamsiyeh,' and thus write 
Sahem ej Jaulan, Tell ej Jabiyeh, etc. 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



5 



and stumps are dotted about the country; the slopes 
of the wadies, too, are still covered with brushwood. 
Neither the soil nor the climate here is inferior to 
that of 'Ajlun, which is so thickly covered with oak 
forests ; but owing to the great need of fuel during 
the rainy season, in a country where snowfall is a 
common occurrence, the nomad Bedawin and the 
villagers tear up every young tree before it has time 
to grow. Now and then, however, near villages, in 
the yard of a sheikh's dwelling, or to shade and 
shelter the whitewashed tomb of a Muhammedan 
saint, we find a single butm or terebinth {Pistacia 
terebinthia) tree, which has been spared, and which 
has grown to a large size. The villagers and 
Bedawin for their fuel as a rule make use of dried 
dung. But how highly wood is appreciated for this 
purpose is attested by the fact that, in order to 
prevent its removal by lawless hands, the Fellahin 
woman who, after great efforts, has gathered some 
branches together, will pile them up during the 
summer in the yard surrounding the Wely of the 
Muhammedan saint who is buried at the village ; 
and here an upright stick, surmounted by a coloured 
piece of cloth, marks it as hers. Under the protec- 
tion of the Neby, the property is absolutely secure, 
for no Muhammedan would dare to touch it ; ploughs 
also and other implements of agriculture are often 
found deposited near the Neby's grave, and it effec- 



6 EA STERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HA URAN. 



tually protects these goods against Bedawin and 
robbers. 

The descents from the mountain plateau to the 
gorges of the streams, owing to the peculiar basaltic 
formation, are often precipitous ; and perpendicular 
cliffs of from 20 to 40 and even 60 feet occur. The 
southern banks of the Shari'at el Menadireh, form- 
ing the northern boundary of 'Ajlun, are less abrupt 
than are the northern banks which belong to Jaulan, 
for the basaltic region comes gradually to an end on 
the borders of northern 'Ajlun. The Shari'ah in 
fact may be considered as the boundary between 
the basaltic region of the Jaulan and the limestones 
of 'Ajlun. The bottom of the Shari'ah, as well as 
of the Rukkad and 'Allan gorges, consists of a very 
soft limestone mass, while it is only the upper borders 
of the gorge, and the banks of streams that are of 
from 40 to 100 feet in height, that show the solid 
mass of basaltic blocks ; but a more or less large 
accumulation of fragments of this volcanic stone is 
piled up on the intermediate slopes. One of the 
most curious instances of this formation is found at 
the peak between Jamleh and Kefr el Ma, on the 
Rukkad. Here the Tell el Ehdeib, or Ras el Hal, 
rises nearly perpendicularly from the valley of the 
Rukkad (which is itself 528 feet above the level of 
the Mediterranean) to an elevation of 1,060 feet 
above the sea, thus forming a precipitous cliff 522 feet 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 7 

high. On its southern side, towards Jamleh, how- 
ever, the Tell falls less abruptly, and after a descent 
of about 300 feet reaches the valley, through which 
flows a small brook. Thus at this place the Rukkad 
Valley is divided into two halves, between which 
rises the Tel el Ehdeib, sloping gradually down 
towards the west, and forming, where the above- 
mentioned brook unites with the Rukkad River, a 
cliff of but little height. On both the upper borders 
of the valley, which has here between Kefr el Ma 
and Jamleh a width of a mile and a half, but espe- 
cially on its northern side, the high plateau is edged 
with basaltic cliffs, which rise precipitously above 
the sloping banks of the river. Great masses of 
basalt, which have fallen from the upper cliffs, here 
cover many parts of the slope, and have rolled into 
the bed of the stream, which in its rapid course has 
sometimes carried them even as far as the Shari'at el 
Menadireh. 

The watershed at this part of Jaulan has its 
culminating point at 'Ain Dakkar, and runs along a 
line from there to Kaukab, and thence along the 
eastern part of the Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh, thus 
keeping a line not far from and nearly parallel to 
the 'Allan, and extending southwards to El Ekseir. 
From this watershed the streams separate, one 
portion running westwards and south-westwards to 
the Rukkad, and another portion southwards to the 



8 EA STERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HA URAN. 



Shan'at el Menadireh. There are four perennial 
streams: i. The SharV-at el Menadireh; 2. The 
Rukkdd ; 3. The Wddy Seisun or Wddy 'A in Dakkar ; 
and 4. The 'Allan. Of these the first two and the last 
form the boundary of the Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh. 

1. The SharVat el Menadireh is the most remarkable 
stream of the country east of the Jordan, and it 
brings to that river about the same amount of water 
as the Jordan itself carries at the point of junction. 
Its name is derived, as above said, from the Bedawin 
tribe called El Menadireh — Shan'ah, being 
the Arabic word for ford or watering-place, etc. — 
who graze their flocks in its valley and cultivate its 
slopes. The ancient name, Hieromax, is mentioned 
by Pliny; and Ritter (' Erdkunde,' xv. a; 'Palses- 
tina u. Syrien,' ii. a, p. 372) states that in the 
Talmud, according to Lightfoot's researches (Light- 
foot, Opp. ii., Centuria Chorogr., chap. iv. fol. 173), 
it is mentioned by the name of Jarmoch (' Jarmoch 
fluvius in via ad Damascum'). The name Yarmuk, 
used in the twelfth century by Arabic authors, such 
as Edrisi and Abu'l Feda, must be the transcrip- 
tion of the ancient name Hieromax ; while the name 
'Irak, ^j^, occasionally given to it by the inhabi- 
tants of Eastern Jaulan, simply means cliff, and is 
descriptive of the character of the river-banks. 

During a meeting of Bedawin and other sheikhs, 
which took place at the large village of Esh Shejarah 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. $ 



in Eastern Jaulan, I took occasion to inquire about the 
names in use amongst them for the 'great river' at 
the boundary of their lands. Their statements were 
as follows : ' Ehreir, or 'Irak, is the name of the 
great wady rising in Northern Hauran, at a large 
place called Es Sunamein : it flows nearly due 
south, passing on its way Sheikh Miskm, and bends 
near the Tell es Semen W.S.W. to Tell el Ash'ary, 
and thence more to the west again until it is joined 
by the 'Allan below Heit. The two united rivers, 
bearing the names of El Ehreir or 'Irak, now flow 
for a short distance south-west, until they join the 
Shari'at el Menadireh. The Shari'ah is fed by a 
second river called the Moyet Zeizun. This stream 
rises under the name of Wady Zeidy (dry in summer) 
in the Jebel ed Drus, and passing westwards the 
Nukrah of the Hauran, touches El Dera'ah, and is 
joined at Tell esh Shehab by the Wady el Bajjeh, 
coming from the Bajjeh lake at El Mezeirib; thence, 
taking a more northerly course under the name of 
Wady Tell esh Shehab, below Zeizun, it is further 
joined by a large stream, the Moyet Zeizun, which 
name is now kept by the united streams until they 
join the Shari'ah el Menadireh, very near the junc- 
tion of the Ehreir. A third stream, the Wady esh 
Sheldleh, the boundary between the Hauran and 
'Ajlun, which carries but little water in summer, 
also falls into the Shari'ah just south of the junction 



io ,E ASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



of the Moyet Zeizun. These three rivers, then, form 
the head of the great Shari'at el Menadireh, which 
now flows south-west, and is lower down joined by 
the Rukkad and several smaller wadies.' 

As I found these statements to be generally correct, 
as far as I could verify them, in the course of my 
surveys, I conclude that the name Shari'at el Mena- 
direh is applied to that river only from the point 
of junction of the Wadies Ehreir, Zeizun and She- 
laleh, and is retained by it to its junction with the 
Jordan ; and further, that the names Ehreir, 'Irak, 
and also Yarmuk (a name which the sheikhs gave in 
connection with Ehreir) are applied solely to the 
wady rising at Es Sunamein, and running down to 
the Shari'ah. 

This is the present nomenclature, but it may be 
remarked that the names Hieromax, Yarmuk, and 
Jarmoch in the old geographers refer to the whole 
course of the river from Es Sunamein {or at least from 
Tell el Astiary) to the Jordan. 

Throughout its course the Shari'at el Menadireh 
is fed by springs, and further by the Nahr er Ruk- 
kad, the Wady Keleit, and many streams coming in 
from the west. There are three tributaries in its 
upper part : (i) The Wady Ku'eilby, coming from 
Hartah in the 'Ajlun, but of which the water-supply 
is small. (2) Further west, the Wady ez Zeyyatin, 
which rises to the north at a ruin called Khurbet 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. n 



Hamatah ; this rich spring affords water to the 
Bedawin herds, and separates near its head into 
several branches — one of these supplies Jamleh 
with drinking water, another flows north of the 
village down into the Rukkad, while the third takes 
a southern course to the Wady ez Zeyyatin and the 
Shari'ah. (3) The Wady Keleit, a large and wind- 
ing valley coming from 'Ajlun, and having but little 
water in summer. The other tributaries are outside 
the limits of this map. When crossed at its head, 
the Shari'at el Menadireh in August, 1884, was 
found to be about 120 feet wide and about 3 feet 
6 inches deep ; while below El Ekseir, where it 
rushes along with higher speed and forms rapids, it 
was but 1 foot 8 inches deep, and about 80 feet 
across. The depth naturally changes considerably, 1 
according to the width. It has a maximum at the 
junction of the Rukkad and Wady Keleit of about 
150 feet in width by 3 feet in depth, but at certain 
seasons increases to double that width, as I observed 
once during a visit to the Yarmuk in April. The river 
is fordable without danger at its head, at the junc- 
tion of the Rukkad, and between these points, near 
Kuweyyeh, in several places. The Shari'ah has from 
its head ( + 180 feet) to its junction with the Jordan 
( — 835 feet) a total fall of 1,015 feet; it winds with 
great speed through a narrow valley, and sometimes 
hardly leaves space for the road to pass under the 



12 EASTERN JAULAN AND*WESTERN HAURAN. 



basaltic precipices between which it is confined. 
Where the banks, however, are less abrupt, and espe- 
cially where the valley widens, near Kuweyyeh, the 
soil is cultivated with much industry by the 'Arab el 
Menadireh, who grow barley and wheat on the 
slopes. They have also planted lemons, vines, pome- 
granates, and olives near the site of the ancient town 
Kuweyyeh, and again at the mouth of the Wady ez 
Zeyyatin. The 'Arab el Menadireh, however, seem 
to be limited to the land between the Tell ej Jamid 
and the Tell el Hawy, or between the head of the 
Shari'ah and the junction of the Rukkad. The 
valley further down the river is occupied by the 
Fellahm el Kufarat* of the 'Ajlun. At many places 
along the banks the water-power of the Shari'ah 
is used for mills. There are several near the mouth 
of the Wady el Ku'eilby, also at the junction of the 
Rukkad and Keleit, and still more numerous are they 
at Mukhayby, and at the hot springs of El Hammy. 
These mills are of a very primitive character, built of 
stone and mud ; they have generally but one grinding- 
stone and one opening. As there are no other mills 
in Jaulan and Hauran but those near the rivers which 
are worked by water-power, the villagers have often 
to bring their grain on donkeys from a great distance, 
along roads which at first sight would seem hardly 
practicable even for an unloaded animal. 

* El Kufarat is the District of the Decapolis. 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. i$ 



The slopes of the Shari'at el Menadireh, where it 
approaches the high plateau of the 'Ajlun, become 
covered with oaks and terebinths (butm), but there 
is scarcely any wood on the Jaulan side ; however, 
along the immediate banks of the river, the oleander 
(difleh or dfeileh) blossoms abundantly. 

2. Nahr er Rtckkdd. — This precipitous and rapid 
river rises in the northern part of Jaulan at the foot 
of Mount Hermon or Jebel esh Sheikh, a little above 
the village called 'Ain el Beidah. The first village on 
its borders, shown on this map, is Ghadir el Bustan, 
now ruined, and here the stream is fed by some springs 
which water all this district during the summer. At 
this point, at an elevation of 1,912 feet above the 
sea, the wady is small, and continues thus down to 
the bridge called the lower Jisr er Rukkad (there is 
a second one further to the north), where the little 
stream in September, 1884, was but 6 feet across 
and scarcely 6 inches deep. Here it winds along in a 
bed which lies from 16 to 20 feet below the surround- 
ing country, and is already 300 feet lower than 
Ghadir el Bustan ; 200 yards below this bridge it 
falls over a perpendicular cliff, about 80 feet in height, 
and thence continues falling in cascades over basaltic 
rocks, hemmed in by a narrow, extremely steep, and 
deep gorge, 100 to 300 feet across, until it is finally 
joined by the fine stream of the Wady Seisun. The 
gorge between Kefr el Ma and Jamleh is divided 



14 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



into two halves by the Tell el Ehdeib (as described 
above), and widening leaves more room for the rush- 
ing river, now swollen by the addition of its im- 
portant tributary, to a width of over 20 feet, with a 
depth of 1 foot, its waters swarming with a multi- 
tude of fish (trout). The bed of the river in winter, 
as marked by the white line on the banks and the 
debris of large basaltic blocks, must have a width 
of over 360 feet, which shows the extent to which 
the floods must rise in this ravine during the rainy 
season, and especially during the time of the melting 
of the snows on Mount Hermon. At these periods 
the cascades of the Rukkad must be very fine. At 
this point, one mile below the junction of its 
tributary, the Rukkad is already 1,072 feet below, 
though only 6J miles from, the crossing of the Jisr 
er Rukkad. This rapid fall, as well as the steepness 
and narrowness of the gorge, is accounted for by 
the fact that both the bed of the Rukkad and a 
portion of its banks consist of a very soft and 
crumbling limestone, which is easily worn away 
under the action of the winter floods. The sides of 
the river are fringed by fine oleander bushes and 
thick cane-brake, while the higher slopes of the 
valley are covered by a sparse growth of brushwood 
(terebinth or butm). The tributaries of the Rukkad 
falling in below the Wady Seisun are of little im- 
portance ; and it joins the Shari'at el Menadireh at 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 15 



the Tell el Hawy, which is 154 feet below the Mediter- 
ranean, 14 miles from, and 2,066 feet below, Ghadir 
el Bustan. 

3. The one important tributary of the Rukkad is 
the Wddy Seisun. This fine perennial stream rises 
at 'Ain Dakkar, near the Jisr er Rukkad. The 
spring, which gives its name to the village, is built 
up with ancient masonry, and is fed by several small 
rivulets which run into it from the north-west. The 
water of the stream — 6 to 8 feet broad, and 1 J to 2 feet 
deep — is clear and cool, and is the best that I found 
anywhere in these parts. Near 'Ain Dakkar it turns 
a couple of mills, the property of the Bedawin sheikh 
Muhammed es Smeir of the great tribe of the'Anazeh, 
and thence flows south-west, winding along in a flat 
bed through the mountain plateau to Seisun. Below 
this its fall increases rapidly until it reaches the 
upper edge of a cliff, some 6 miles from 'Ain Dakkar,, 
having fallen during its course 482 feet ; here it has 
a perpendicular fall of about 100 feet, and then con- 
tinuing straight on over 420 yards of cataract, where 
the fall is 517 feet more, it finally joins the Rukkad. 
The difference of altitude between its head-waters 
and its junction with the latter stream is 1,099 f eet > 
its entire length being a little over 6 miles. The 
fine waterfall of the Wady Seisun is both audible 
and visible from a considerable distance. Near its 
junction with the Rukkad the stream turns a small 



1 6 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



mill belonging to Jamleh (Tahunet Jamleh), but the 
water power would suffice to work a far more ex- 
tensive establishment. 

4. Nahr el 'Allan. — The Nahr el 'Allan rises near 
the foot of Tell el Harah, at a place called 'Ayytin es 
Sakher. Flowing through a stony country covered 
with volcanic mounds, it is spanned two miles west of 
Tsil by the Jisr (Bridge) el 'Allan ; its altitude is here 
1,448 feet above the sea, and is therefore 162 feet 
"below the Rukkad at the Jisr, which lies 3J miles 
to the north-west. The actual bed of the 'Allan at 
its Jisr is 6 to 8 feet below the level of the surround- 
ing lands : it is a small and sluggish stream of 
perennial water, and in September, 1884, was barely 
a yard and a half across. There is a second and far 
wider bed, 200 to 300 yards across, which is bounded 
by a range of low and stony volcanic mounds ; this, 
I was informed, is partly flooded by the 'Allan in 
the winter and spring at the melting of the snows of 
the highlands of Jaulan, and thus the streams of 
the Rukkad and the 'Allan would both appear to be 
greatly affected by the amount of snowfall and the 
change of temperature in the mountainous region of 
Northern Jaulan and Jedur. The 'Allan further has 
a second river coming into it, north of the point 
shown in this map. 

From the Jisr, the 'Allan continues southwards, 
towards the important ruin of Beit Akkar, winding 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 17 



in the narrow channel above described, but here the 
surrounding country changes. The wider bed, 
mentioned above, has already disappeared two miles 
to the north, and the stream itself, fed by some 
springs, has increased in depth and rapidity. Half 
a mile north of Beit Akkar it runs down a cataract 
of some 20 feet, and works the Tahunet el 
Ghazaleh and two other mills, after which, at an 
altitude of 1,391 feet above sea, it reaches a perpen- 
dicular cliff over 60 feet in height, and over this falls 
into a round birkeh or pond, which the stream has 
hollowed for itself in the basaltic rocks. The pool is 
filled with bright bluish-green water and is teeming 
with fish. Here the gorge suddenly becomes very 
steep and narrow, and is joined from the west by a 
ravine, hemmed in by perpendicular cliffs of basalt, 
called the Wady Beit Akkar. A little less than half 
a mile further down, the stream again falls over a 
cliff of about 60 feet in height, into a second round 
birkeh of beautiful clear water, which, according to 
information obtained on the spot, is of considerable 
depth. This second pond has an altitude of 1,195 
feet above the sea. Each of these cataracts is termed 
El Ghadir, and where the 'Allan thus continues to 
cascade over cliffs and rocks, the part, 'north and 
south of Beit Akkar, is known by the name of Tiah 
(waterfalls of) Beit Akkar. 

One mile and a half below the first cataract and 

2 



1 8 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



about five miles south of the Jisr, the 'Allan is joined 
from the east by the stream of the Wady ej Jebeleh. 
Also a copious perennial spring, the 'Ain es Sufu- 
kiyeh, which rises close to the Wady ej Jebeleh, 
and turns four mills situated on the eastern slopes 
of the wady, joins the latter and comes into the 
'Allan, a thick growth of oleanders and cane covering 
the whole vicinity. The point where the united 
streams join the 'Allan lies about 190 feet below 
the pond last mentioned, and about 440 feet 
below the Jisr. Below this the gorge widens to 
between 400 and 600 yards, and its banks become 
less steep. The 'Allan has no further affluents that 
are worthy of mention, but many nameless springs 
come purling down its sloping banks, their course 
being marked by a jungle of cane. The river now 
winds rapidly through the wady, and less than two 
miles below Heit joins the Ehreir ; and thence the 
united rivers, after flowing nearly 2 miles further 
south-west, come to their junction with the Shari'at 
el Menadireh, at a point which has an altitude of 
180 feet above the sea. The length of the 'Allan 
from the Jisr to the Shari'ah is about 12 miles, and 
its fall during this course is 1,268 feet. 

Roads. — The main line of communication through 
the Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh lies in the north. Coming 
from the Sea of Galilee and passing through Fik and 
Khisfin, the road crosses the bridge of the Rukkad, 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 19 



runs on to 'Ain Dakkar, and from here by the second 
bridge of the 'Allan, reaches Tsil and Nawa. The 
portion lying between the two bridges is marked by 
distinct remains of an ancient Roman road. Three 
hundred yards east of 'Ain Dakkar this Roman road 
divides, one branch going to the bridges, the other, 
as far as was followed, leading in a straight line to 
Sahem ej Jaulan, the probable site of the Roman 
city of Gaulanitis. 

The annexed section (Fig. 1) of the still existing 

Section, of Homan Road. 

f 16-5 - — - 

: S j 

Fig. 1. 

causeway will show how the Roman high-road was 
built. It was 16 feet 5 inches wide, and bordered 
along the sides by edge stones (E), which raised it 
about 5 inches above the level of the country. Down 
the centre of the roadway a line of cut stones (S) 
was laid, which elevated this part 10 inches above E. 
Finally, the spaces between E and S, sloping on 
either side, were paved, without much care, with 
stones of irregular shape. The road followed at the 
present time runs parallel and close to the Roman 
road, and it is only in winter or in muddy places 
that this latter is ever now made use of. Paths are 

2 — 2 



2o EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



found leading from Sahem ej Jaulan to Tsil, and 
thence to the Jisr el 'Allan and 'Adwan by way of 
Buruk; one also runs from Nafa'ah northwards to 
'Ain Dakkar, but it is very stony. Others run 
between the various towns and lead to and from the 
mills ; but they, like all the roads in the Jaulan, are 
mere tracks, not even being kept clear of stones, 
and are in consequence most troublesome for beasts 
of burden. 



2. Western Haurdn. 

Western Hauran is merely the further portion of 
the great upland, and does not form a separate sub- 
administration, but is governed directly by the 
Mutasarrif of Hauran. It is bounded on the south by 
the Wady Shelaleh and the Jebel 'Ajlun ; on the west 
by the Nahr el 'Allan and Jaulan ; while its northern 
limits extend to the Jebel el Aswad, and its eastern 
to the Lejjah and the Jebel ed Drus — also called 
Jebel Hauran. The most conspicuous point on this 
portion of the map is the Tell ej Jabiyeh, a hill which 
rises to a height of 2,322 feet above the Mediter- 
ranean Sea; the highest village is Nawa in the 
north, with an altitude of 1,886 feet ; the lowest is 
the hamlet of Tell esh Shehab, situated in the south 
at the head of a gorge. The geological formation 
of Hauran is basalt ; most of the hills are therefore 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 21 



of volcanic origin, the borders of the wadies in con- 
sequence being abrupt and steep. 

The extreme north-western part of this section of 
Hauran, round Tsil, is very similar to the Zawiyeh 
esh Shurkiyeh, the country being covered with 
volcanic mounds, with sheepfolds on their summits, 
as described on a previous page. As, however, 
we get further from the 'Allan going east and 
south, the rock-covered surface disappears, and a 
stoneless, magnificent, reddish-brown soil takes its 
place. This soil has been formed by the lava scoria 
and ashes which were spread over the country during 
the period of activity of the volcanoes of the Jebel 
ed Drus, the Tellul el Hesh, and others, and which 
have become disintegrated under atmospheric action. 
Such ashes I have found still undecomposed 3 to 
4 feet below the surface of the earth, and lava frag- 
ments at the present moment cover the slopes of the 
extinct volcanoes. The soil of basaltic regions is, as 
a rule, very fertile, and the Fellahin and Bedawin of 
Hauran have therefore but little trouble in raising 
magnificent crops, if rain only falls in sufficient 
abundance ; moreover, as the ground is stoneless, 
the land is easily cultivated. 

As this part of Hauran is but thinly settled, a 
large portion of the rich soil lies uncultivated, for 
the Fellahin, as a rule, only cultivate an area round 
the village not larger than is possible for them to 



22 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



get to in the day, and to work with a single yoke of 
oxen — that is, a feddan.* Whatever land lies out- 
side of this circle is left unoccupied, and belongs to 
the Bedawin herdsmen, and is by them in some 
parts cultivated. 

As Hauran is now better administrated than 
before, and especially since the seat of the Govern- 
ment has been removed from Busrah eski Sham to 
Sheikh Sa'ad (Merkez), where the Governor can 
more easily be supplied with soldiers from Damascus 
in case of need, the Fellahin feel themselves more 
protected, and begin to risk further settlements ; also 
the Bedawin — namely, of the Wulid 'Ali es Smeir, a 
branch of the great clan of the 'Arab el 'Anazeh, 
the only tribe occupying the Western Hauran — have 
now begun to settle and build stone houses in which 
they store their grain. A more teeming population 
would soon follow on this improved state of things, 
but that the greater security of property has pro- 
duced an unscrupulous speculation in the grain crops 
on the part of the Syrian merchants. This has been 
the ruin of all agricultural improvement in Syria, 
and already there have been large numbers of 
victims among the Fellahin of Hauran. To stop 
this the Government has only to enforce the exist- 

* A Hauran feddan is half the feddan in Western Palestine, 
which consists of two pairs of oxen. A Hauran feddan is but 
one pair. 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 23 



ing laws against usury, and prohibit the feudal tenure 
of land, thus fostering the emancipation of the 
Fellahin ; and should this not quickly be done, the 
independence of the Hauran Fellahm will soon have 
come to an end, for all their property will have 
passed into the hands of these unprincipled specu- 
lators. 

The cereals cultivated in Hauran consist of an 
excellent kind of wheat and barley; and careful 
researches have convinced me that the reports of 
former travellers, concerning a sixty to eighty fold 
crop of these, are in no wise exaggerated. On the 
contrary, in ' the Magazine of Fruits,' in the district 
of En Nukrah, in Southern Hauran, the yields are 
said to be still greater. The grain is transported on 
camels, part to Damascus, part to 'Acca and Haifa, 
on the seacoast. The price of corn at the place of 
growth is of course very low, but it rises consider- 
ably on account of the slow and troublesome trans- 
port. To give an idea of the amount of grain brought 
from Hauran to 'Acca and Haifa, I may state that, 
from my own observation, these seaports have ex- 
ported, as an average of the last twelve years, 100,000 
to 120,000 tons of cereals, annually, to the different 
countries of Europe, especially to France and Italy. 
The cost of transport of grain from any one of the 
nearer places in Hauran to the seacoast has to be 
defrayed by a tax of from one-third to one-half 



24 EASTERN jfA ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



of the amount of cereals so transported, or at the 
rate of from thirty-three to fifty per cent, on the 
value of the grain, and the higher rate is the more 
usual. As an annual yield of 200,000 to 250,000 
tons of grain in the Hauran is considered a fair crop, 
any system giving a rapid communication between 
the remoter districts and the seaports would meet a 
very pressing need. The Turkish Government has 
lately issued a very liberal firman, for the construction 
of a railway line running from Haifa to Damascus 
through the Hauran, with a probable extension 
north to Aleppo and 'Aintab, and foreign capitalists 
have been invited to invest. 

Although there are streams in abundance in 
Western Hauran, there is no growth of forest. Ex- 
cept, therefore, at Sheikh Sa'ad, where the Govern- 
ment has planted orchards and a few trees, for 
shade, such as willows and acacias, and at Me- 
zeirib, Zeizun, and Tell esh Shehab, where there is 
some cultivation of trees, not even round the villages 
are any to be met with, and the traveller will look in 
vain for a tree anywhere on the wide plain. The 
fuel, therefore, consists solely of dried manure. Near 
villages the Fellahm have already begun to cultivate 
a few orchards, and they have vineyards and gardens ; 
the latter are a great resource to travellers who, 
camping out in the Hauran, have usually to do 
without such luxuries as fruit and vegetables. 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 25 



Mention therefore is made of them where they occur. 
This absence of wood-growth is owing to the grazing 
herds of the Bedawin, which destroy every growing 
plant ; but in the north above Nawa, and still more 
in the south towards 'Ajlun, the growth of wood 
increases. 

The descents from the plateau into the wadies 
are steep and abrupt; the Wady Shelaleh, however, 
is less precipitous than are the Ehreir and the 
Wady Tell esh Shehab. Willows, oleanders, and 
cane border the streams and springs. The growth 
of grass is less abundant in Hauran than in Jaulan ; 
for the sun more quickly dries up the stoneless, 
sandy plain of the first than the hilly, stony region 
of the last. Therefore Jaulan is called the grazing 
country (Belad er Rabi'ah), while Hauran is the 
wheat country (Belad el Kameh). 

The northern half of Western Hauran is in form 
triangular. As the country slopes westwards down 
to the 'Allan, the streams which rise in the east con- 
verge towards Kefr es Samir, or else near the 
banks of the W T ady Ehreir flow directly into this last. 
South of the Ehreir the tract forms a declivity, 
where the streams, also rising in the east, flow each 
separately into the Wady Tell esh Shehab or Zeizun. 

There are thirteen perennial streams found in 
Western Hauran (not counting the Nahr el 'Allan, 
which has already been described) : 1. The Wady el 



26 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



Ehreir ; 2. The Wddy el Bajjeh, or Wddy Tell esh 
Shehdb ; 3. The Moyet Zeizun ; 4. The Wddy esh 
Shefeil; 5. Wddy el Yabis ; 6. Moyet en Neby Ayyub ; 
7. Wddy el Lubwah ; 8. Wddy el 'Ajamy; 9. Wddy 
Bdbis ; 10. Wddy Jebeleh ; 11. El Emshiyaddt ; 12. 
Wddy el Emheiris ; 13. The Wddy esh Sheldleh. 

1. The Wddy el Ehreir, or 'Irak, which is identical 
with the ancient Yarmuk or Hieromax, is a fine 
clear stream, about 25 feet across and 1 foot deep, 
near the Jisr (bridge), as has already been described 
above (see ' Shari'at el Menadireh'). It rises near 
Es Sunamein in the north of Hauran, passes the Jisr 
el Ehreir, from whence, through a gorge, the river 
flows to Tell el Ash'ary, where it falls over cliffs of 
considerable height. Near here it turns several mills 
of primitive construction like those found through- 
out the Jaulan. Round Tell el Ash'ary the wady 
bears also the name of this village. A quarter of a 
mile below Tell el Ash'ary it is fed by the fine springs 
of the Bahret el Ash'ary and el Emshiyadat, and one 
mile below that village it is joined by the Wady el 
Emheiris. Here it takes the name of Wady el 'Ajamy, 
a name which therefore during its course occurs 
twice, namely here and at the boggy spring near 
the village of El 'Ajamy, close to the Ehreir. About 
five miles below Tell el Ash'ary, the Wady el Ehreir 
is fed by the Wady from Kefr es Samir, and next by 
the stream of the Wady esh Shefeil, which, how- 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 27 



ever, is nearly dry in summer. At a distance of 
about gf miles from the Jisr, the Ehreir is joined 
by the 'Allan, where are two mills, and then it 
joins the Shari'at el Menadireh, having run a 
distance of a little over 11 miles from the Jisr el 
Ehreir, and having fallen during this course 
1,301 feet. The gorge of the Ehreir down to the 
Wady esh Shefeil is steep and narrow, like that 
of the 'Allan, the cliffs being composed of basaltic 
rocks; but below this it widens and becomes a gentle 
valley. Oleanders and cane-jungle border the 
stream. 

2. The Wady el Bajjeh has its source at Ras el 
'Ain, close to El Mezeirib. The spring is much built 
up with ancient masonry and overgrown with a luxu- 
riant jungle of cane. A fine stream of cool, clear 
sweet water, 2 to 3 yards across and 1 to 2 feet deep, 
bordered by willows and acacias, flows for about 
500 yards west, and then fills a basin ; on leaving 
this it turns the Government mills, in these are 
three grinding-stones, the whole establishment being 
modern, and the best of the kind found throughout 
Hauran and Jaulan. After leaving the mills, it runs 
into the lake or Bahret el Bajjeh, which is the 
watering-place of the pilgrims on their road from 
Damascus to Mecca, and is therefore accounted 
holy. This lake, which is full of fish (carp), in- 
cluding the little island of Kum el Mezeirib, covered 



28 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



in September, 1884, an area of 27 acres. This area 
is greatly extended during the rainy season by the 
flowing in of the waters of the Wady Khreiyan, rising 
near the Jebel ed Drus, as well as by numerous 
springs which bubble up below the surface of the 
lake and on its shores. Near the Dakkakin, or 
Storehouses, of El Mezeirib, on the northern banks 
of the lake, there is a partly submerged building 
called El Hummam, ' the Bath' ; the water here has 
a slight mineral taste, and a temperature somewhat 
higher than that of the rest of the lake. The lake 
itself, I was informed, had at its greatest depth 
from 16 to 20 feet ; but there being no boat I could 
not myself verify this report. Its shape is that of 
an oblong, nearly approaching the square ; the banks 
are flat, but become more steep beyond where a circle 
of basaltic stones encircles the strand : hence the 
waters lie in what is a depressed plain, and are not 
visible at a distance. Its altitude above sea is 1,431 
feet. The waters of the lake are mudd}^, owing to 
the marshy banks and the miry bottom, and they 
are brackish. Kum el Mezeirib is a partly ruined 
village built on a small island in the middle of the 
lake. Its healthiness is much impaired by the 
miasma, which causes fever, and it is therefore now 
nearly entirely abandoned by its former inhabitants. 

The shores of the lake are bare of trees, being 
bordered by marsh-plants only ; at its northern 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 29 



end the land is very marshy, and in consequence 
the edge of the water is almost unapproachable. 
From the point where the stream leaves the lake on its 
western shore it bears the name of Wady el Bajjeh, 
and flowing rapidly, a remarkably bright stream 
of from 3 to 5 yards across, and 1 to 2 feet in depth, 
runs in the beginning of its course nearly due west. 
Along this reach it turns several mills, after which, 
bearing more to the south-west, it passes under a 
small modern stone bridge, half a mile north of 
Tell esh Shehab. Increasing its speed, it serves 
to turn some other mills, and then falls, a little 
to the south of the bridge, over a high cliff, form- 
ing a waterfall of greater volume, but equal in 
height, to that already described as occurring in 
the Wady Seisun. Its length from the lake to 
this cliff is 3J miles, and its fall 271 feet. The 
stream all along its course is bordered by willows 
and brushwood. Before it arrives at the modern 
bridge, there branch from it canals which irrigate 
the plain, and, further down, water some of the 
Tell esh Shehab gardens, which are an agree- 
able and unusual sight in this part of the world, 
being planted with apricots (mishmish), pome- 
granates, figs, pears, and apples, besides many vine- 
yards. The name of Wady el Bajjeh, which it has 
hitherto borne, is, below the waterfall, changed for 
that of Wady Tell esh Shehab or merely Wady ei Tell. 



2 o EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



The stream, which now forms many cataracts, turns — 
during its course from the bridge on the plain down 
to the bottom of the gorge below the village of Tell 
esh Shehab — not less than thirty-five mills, which go 
by the name of Tawahin et Tell. These mills are all 
of a most primitive character, and the water-power 
of the stream could, in this rich part of the country, 
with the abundant wheat-fields, be utilized in a far 
higher degree. Through a gorge, which resembles 
those already described, and shut in by basaltic cliffs, 
the stream rushes down, and after a course of about 
4 miles more joins the Moyet Zeizun at a total 
distance from the Lake of el Bajjeh of 7 J miles, and 
with a fall of 867 feet. 

3. The Moyet Zeizun rises three-quarters of a mile 
south-east of the village of Zeizun. The springs gush- 
ing out of the earth at Ras el 'Ain form a circular 
pool, a natural birkeh some 30 yards (Sept., 1884) in 
diameter, the sides of which are thickly covered by 
cane. From this pool a sluggish stream flows out 
for a couple of hundred yards, and then forms a 
second birkeh of like size to the first, which is fed by 
other springs. The stream, which at first was rather 
muddy, now flows clear and fast towards the village, 
its fall increasing, and runs through the centre of the 
town. It here expands from an initial width of 
about 12 feet, with a depth of 2 h, to a broad stream, 
called the Bahret Zeizim, here 25 to 35 feet wide and 



32 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



about a foot deep, in the middle of which there 
stands upright a rectangular obelisk, 19 feet high. 
Past this the clear stream, rushing over debris and 
ruins, comes down to a cliff, before reaching which 
it becomes yet broader, and finally falling perpen- 
dicularly over the cliff (Fig. 2), forms cataracts down 
a height of 771 feet, at the bottom of which it is 
joined by the Wady Tell esh Shehab. The Ras el 
'Ain itself is about 100 feet higher than the top of 
the cliff, and is 1,435 feet above sea; the whole 
length of the course of the Wady Zeizun down to 
its junction with the Wady et Tell is ij miles, and 
its total fall is about 870 feet. 

Throughout this course the Moyet Zeizun is 
bordered by a thick growth of cane (Kussub, also 
called Kusseib in Hauran) and shrubs ; the steep 
slopes, down which the water falls in cascades, are also 
covered by a jungle of cane, below which the waters 
run, to disappear and appear again at the bottom 
of the valley. The waters spread out before they fall 
over the broad cliff, and this waterfall is more im- 
posing in its grandeur than any other found in 
this country ; but I doubt whether in amount of 
water it surpasses that of the Wady el Bajjeh. 

On this fine stream, down to its junction with the 
Wady et Tell, there are no mills, and no works of 
any kind whatever ; it is yet waiting for an intelli- 
gent hand to put to use its abundant power. 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 33 



From where it is joined by the Wady et Tell, 
the Wady Zeizun taking a rapid winding course 
between gentle slopes, skirts the base of a narrow 
shoulder, above which lies Kum el Kussub, whereby 
it is divided from the Wady el Ehreir. A little 
south of, and above, the junction of the Ehreir, 
it joins the Shari'at el Menadireh and the Wady 
esh Shelaleh, and turns there the mill Tahunet ez 
Z'abeh. The total length of the Moyet Zeizun, 
from Ras el 'Ain to the junction, is something over 
$\ miles, and its total fall about 1,255 f eet - The 
spot where the Shari'at el Menadireh commences 
is remarkable for the highly picturesque aspect which 
the scenery here presents, and we have a lovely 
valley, with wooded slopes and numerous cascades. 

4. The Wady esh Shefeil can only during about 5 
miles (from the south of Tsil to a mile south of 
Sahem ej Jaulan) be considered a perennial stream, 
for at this point it loses itself in the dry wady bed. 
It rises north of Tsil, flows in a south-westerly 
direction to the Tell 'Ameidun, and from thence to 
Sahem ej Jaulan, where it waters some gardens. 
Here it becomes, in autumn, a muddy ditch, 
running over a flat bottom about 6 feet across, and 
5 inches deep. Its course is due south, and then 
S.S.E. until it flows into the Ehreir, near Yublah. 

5. The Wady el Ydbis is a perennial stream of 
brackish water, which rises in a marsh, where 

3 



34 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



springs bubble up round the ruin of Et Tireh. It is 
here about 8 feet across, 6 inches deep, and has a 
sluggish current. It is a dangerous wady to cross at 
this point, from the boggy nature of the bed and the 
marshes around it. The only safe ford is close to 
the ruin. Taking a south-western, and then a more 
western course along a flat bed, bordered by plants 
of a marshy growth, it reaches the village of Kefr es 
Samir, and here again forms a marsh, which renders 
the fording troublesome. The small wadies, El Lub- 
wah and Moyet en Neby Ayyub, join it here. From 
this point the stream, bearing the name of Wady 
Kefr es Samir, increases both in volume, and rapidity, 
and, deepening its channel, which becomes near 
Yublah a narrow gorge, it rushes down into the 
Ehreir, its total length being about 8 miles. 

6. The Moyet en Neby Ayyub is also called Moyet 
esh Sheikh Sa'ad, as both saints have equal patronage 
of the stream. Its sources are to be found in the 
gardens at the foot of the hill of Sakhret Ayyub, at 
Sheikh Sa'ad ; it supplies the Hummam Ayyub and 
the Jam'aah fountain of Sheikh Sa'ad with clear, 
fresh water, and flows through a built canal along 
the gardens by the village ; and thence turning 
southwards, enters the Merkez, or residence of 
the Mutasarrif. Along this part of its course rows 
of willows and acacias have been planted, as well as 
fruit-trees. The stream is very small, and in its upper 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 35 



part boggy, being 1 to 2 yards across, and a few- 
inches deep, but it flows more rapidly from the Merkez 
southwards to Tell 'Ashtarah ; and is joined, south 
of this place, by the 'Ain en Nileh. A short distance 
north of Kefr es Samir, still a mere brook, it is joined 
by the Wady el Lubwah ; and the two streams 
united, after flowing round Kefr es Samir, form a 
marsh, and finally run into the Wady el Yabis, or 
Wady Kefr es Samir. 

7. The Wady el Lubwah rises near Deir el Lubwah 
at a spring of the same name. Near Taiyibet Lism, 
a mile to the south-west of the spring, it has much 
the same appearance as has the Wady el Yabis at Et 
Tireh ; a boggy bed and a sluggish stream, marked 
by a growth of marsh shrubs. There must have 
been a more plentiful supply in ancient times, as 
there is a ruined mill at Taiyibet Lism, and a second 
one, a mile and a half further down, which are now 
known under the name of Tahunet el Midyab. In 
taste the water is brackish ; and the general direc- 
tion of the stream is south-west. As already men- 
tioned, it is joined by the Wady or Moyet en Neby 
Ayyub, a little north of Kefr es Samir, and then runs 
into the Wady el Yabis. 

The whole country along the road from the Mer- 
kez to Et Tireh is marshy, and only in cases of un- 
avoidable necessity should this road be chosen when 
travelling with loaded animals. 

3—2 



36 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



8. The Wddy el 'Ajamy is a perennial stream of 
dirty, brackish water, which rises at the Bahret el 
'Ajamy, a swamp which exhales poisonous miasmas 
and renders the village of El 'Ajamy so unhealthy. 
Along a winding, sluggish course, bordered by 
various sorts of marsh-plants, with a muddy bed 
that is difficult to cross, it is at times 3 yards wide 
and 8 inches deep, but, in places running more 
swiftly, is only a yard and a half across and 5 inches 
deep. It flows in a westerly direction, parallel with 
the Ehreir, as far as the ruins of J'arah and El 
'Amuriyeh. Here again it forms marshes, and, 
turning southwards, waters, by means of ditches, 
some of the gardens of Zeizun, and finally between 
Zeizun and Kum el Kussub rushes down a steep 
slope into the Moyet Zeizun. It is throughout an 
unsightly little stream, overgrown by cane. 

9. The Wddy Bdbis rises half a mile south-west of 
El Mezeirib, at the spring of Ras el 'Ain. It is a 
very small stream of water, which takes a westerly 
course, winding along a wide flat bed through a plain 
of fine reddish soil. The stream, however, almost 
dries up before it reaches Tell esh Shehab. In winter 
it must swell considerably, for it has formed the north- 
ern gorge which surrounds the Tell esh Shehab. 

10. The Wddy Jebeleh has its beginning in the 
marshy region lying north-east of the ruins of 
Jebeleh, where there are a number of springs. It is 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:, yj 



a small though rapid stream, and falls into the 'Allan 
after running a course of about a mile. 

11. El Emshiyaddt, and the stream coming out of 
the Bahret el Ash'ary, are perennial, rapid brooks 2 
yards across, 6 inches deep, running with clear water. 
They both take their rise in the marshy country, 
near Tell el Ash'ary, and each has a length of a 
little over a mile. El Emshiyadat turns the Tawa- 
hm (mills) el Arshediyat, and the other brook, which 
has no name, the very primitive Tawahin el Biariat, 
both situated on the slopes of the Ehreir. After pass- 
ing out of the mills, each of the two brooks makes a 
small waterfall, and then rushes down to the Ehreir. 

12. The Wddy el Emheiris rises a little east of the 
ruin El Emheiris, in a marsh. It is a muddy stream 
of water, of the size of the Wady el Yabis, and falls, 
after passing Jillin, over cliffs down to the Wady el 
Ehreir, having a total length of about 2J miles. 

13. Wddy esh Sheldleh. — This is a wide wady, 
carrying a very small stream of water in summer, 
which is nearly dry at its mouth, and forms the 
boundary between Hauran and Jebel 'Ajlun. I have 
not explored its course, and merely its junction with 
the Shari'ah is mapped. 

Roads. — Two main roads cross Western Hauran, 
uniting at Nawa. The first, as mentioned in the 
section on Jaulan, comes from Fik over the Jisrs 
of the Rukkad and 'Allan to Tsil. From there the 



38 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



road turns north-east, leaving the Tell ej Jemu'ah 
to the west, and runs on to Nawa. The latter 
portion, between Nawa and the Tell ej Jemu'ah, 
runs beside the remains of a Roman road, which 
doubtless is the prolongation of the one already 
described as running between the two Jisrs. 

The second main line of communication in Hauran 
is the road from Nawa, due south to Sheikh Sa'ad, 
(the Merkez), and thence by the Jisr el Ehreir on to 
El Mezeirib, Turrah, and Irbid. It thus connects 
the seat of Government of the Hauran with the 
'Ajlun Kaimakamiyeh of Irbid, which last forms 
part of the Liwah of Hauran. The portion from 
Mezeirib to Turrah is at the same time a section 
of the great pilgrim road, Darb el Haj, running 
from Damascus to Mecca. From El Mezeirib the 
Haj either take the shorter route by way of Tuffas 
to Sheikh Miskin and Es Sunamein, or the safer 
but slightly longer way by Sheikh Sa'ad, Nawa, and 
Es Sunamein, and thence on to Damascus. Both 
these roads of Hauran are tolerably good, and are 
much superior to those of Jaulan. As they are not 
macadamized, they are in the rainy season muddy; 
but passing as they do through the stoneless plain, 
during the summer they are for the most part smooth 
tracks, from 8 to 10 yards wide, and could be 
used without any alteration during this season by 
waggons. 



GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 39 



Other good roads exist : such as that running 
between Sheikh Sa'ad and Tsil by 'Adwan ; between 
Nawa, Khurbet ej Jebaliyeh and the Jisr el 'Allan ; 
between Sahem ej Jolan and the Jisr el Ehreir, by 
Kefr es Samir (this is a particularly broad and 
handsome road) ; between Tell esh Shehab and El 
Mezeirib (also very broad and level) ; and between 
El Mezeirib and Ed Dera'ah, and thence on to 
Busrah Eski Sham. 

The route between Nawa and Irbid is marked by 
the line of the telegraph. At Sheikh Sa'ad the line 
divides into three branches : one goes due east to 
the Jebel ed Drus ; the second southwards to Irbid, 
by El Mezeirib ; and the third northwards to 
Damascus, by way of Nawa, from which latter place 
a fourth line branches to the north-west, to El 
Kuneitrah. The only telegraph station of Western 
Hauran is at the Merkez of Sheikh Sa'ad, from 
whence telegrams can be sent in any European 
language to all parts of the world via Damascus. 



There are twenty-five villages or inhabited places 
marked on this map. Of these, the seven villages be- 
longing to Ez Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh, and one, Kefr 
el Ma, in the Zawiyeh el Ghurbiyeh, are governed 
by the Kaimakam of Jaulan, residing at El Kuneitrah. 
Besides these villages there is the large town of 



4 o EASTERN JA ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



Sahem ej Jaulan, which, although situated in the 
Hauran, also forms a part of the Kaimakamiyeh of 
El Kuneitrah or Jaulan. The sixteen other in- 
habited villages of the map belong to the Liwah of 
Sheikh Sa'ad or the Hauran. The residence of the 
Mutasarrif is at the Court-house, near Sheikh Sa'ad, 
which, together with the adjoining dwellings of the 
Government officials, have been but recently built, 
and the place is called El Merkez (The ' Centre ' 
of Government). The Mutasarrif is under the 
Governor-General or Vali of Syria, and has jurisdic- 
tion over Hauran, Jaulan, and the Jebel 'Ajlun. Ed 
Dera'ah forms a Kaimakamiyeh of itself, but depend- 
ant on Sheikh Sa'ad. 

The total population of the villages met with in 
Eastern Jaulan amounts to 1,750 souls, while that of 
Western Hauran, including Ed Dera'ah, is approxi- 
mately 8,540, giving a sum-total for both districts 
of 10,290 Muslems. With the exception of some 
twenty Christian officials at the seat of Government, 
there are not to be found in this district any non- 
Muslems. The descriptions of the villages, ruins, 
springs, and all other objects marked in the map — 
with the exception of the streams, which have 
already been described — are now given classed ac- 
cording to the two districts, and arranged in alpha- 
betical order. 



CHAPTER II. 



VILLAGES, RUINS, AND NAMES MET WITH IN THE 
DISTRICT OF EZ ZAWIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH OR 
EASTERN JAULAN. 

The building-stones of the houses found in this 
district, and of the ruins, are invariably basalt. 
The number of the population given includes men, 
women, and grown children. 

9 A bdin. — A moderate sized village, built of mud and 
stone, situated on the summit of the eastern bank of 
Nahr er Rukkad ; it has thirty-six huts, some trees, 
and contains a population of about 150 souls. Water 
is obtained from a spring near by. The land lying 
round the village is arable and well cultivated. 



Fig. 3. 

A basalt block, with a Greek inscription, is to be 
seen in the Sheikh's yard (Fig. 3). 



D CKETf ACQ IK HCALA 




42 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



In the neighbourhood are several subterranean build- 
ings, roofed with basaltic slabs ; the rooms being 
small, 10 to 15 feet square, and fallen in. To the 
south of the village are the ruins of a Jam'aah with 
a square tower (the Medany) standing to the north 
of it (Fig. 4). The ornamentation of the pillars of the 
low circular arcades (Fig. 5) is nowise remarkable 

S outh. 




and Medany of Abdm 

Fig. 4. 

in appearance, and the stones are sometimes built 
in upside down. The Jam'aah cannot therefore be 
the building for which they were originally intended. 
The tower, which stands close to the northern side 
of the building, has the entrance from the west. 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



43 



In its interior are the remains of winding stairs, the 
steps of which rest in a solid mullion of rectangular 
shape ; they are not radial. The tower at present is 
about 12 feet high, and is well built of basaltic stones. 



Interior of Jaxn'aak of 'ALdirt 




Fig. 5. 



Khurbet 'Arkub er Rahwah. — A ruined and deserted 
place, situated on the summit of the shoulder which 
separates the Rukkad from the Shari'at el Menadireh, 
and above the junction of these rivers (Fig. 6). The 
ruins are spread all over this shoulder, and are 
hidden by some Butm (terebinth) trees. There is 
no ornamentation of any distinct character on the 
stones. This ruin must have been an important 
place long ago. The shoulder above mentioned, 
which bears the name of Ras 'Arkub er Rahwah, 
and divides the Rukkad from the Hieromax, in 
ancient times was probably the political boundary. 
Khurbet Ras 'Arkub er Rahwah occupies an ad- 
vantageous position, and from it is seen the junction 



44 EA STERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 




EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 45. 

of the two rivers, and a great portion of the Jaulan, 
and the slopes of the Decapolis, now known as El 
Kefarat. 

I feel strongly inclined to believe that we have 
here the site of the ancient Argob of the Bible 
(Deut. iii. 4, 14 ; 1 Kings iv. 13), which I do not 
hesitate to place here on the slopes of Bashan, 
rather than in the Trachonitis or Lejjah, which most 
authorities have found reason to identify with that 
country. Burkhardt, in his ' Travels in Syria and 
the Holy Land/ often declares that the Biblical 
Country of Argob, which had been hitherto identified 
with the Batansea, must rather be sought for in the 
southern region of Jaulan, although he had himself 
been unable to discover any such name in those parts. 
The name 'Arkub occurs again in the Belkah, but 
there merely designates the southern slopes of the 
Wady ez Zerkah (Ritter, ' Erdkunde,' vol. xv. b, ii. b y 
p. 1040) ; for the word 'Arkub {< . *jSj£>) means ' the 
winding and stony slopes of a mountain,' and is 
often used in Palestine as the denomination of such 
places. 'Arkub er Rahwah, however, of the Zawiyeh 
esh Shurkiyeh is the name of an extensive ruin on a 
hill-slope ; and further there can be no objection to 
its geographical situation, for Jaulan, or Golan, ' is 
in Bashan,' according to Deut. iv. 43. 

The epithet e er Rahwah' (Syt^l) merely means 
* the squeezed in,' a name derived from the situation 



46 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAUR AN. 



of the rocky promontory, which lies ' squeezed in ' 
between the two rivers. 

'Arak el Heitaliyeh is a high cliff on the southern 
borders of the Shari'at el Menadireh, about three 
miles below its junction with the Rukkad ; it belongs 
to Jebel 'Ajlun, and on it are some ruins of an in- 
distinct character. 

Abu Ballutah. — A single isolated Ballut tree or 
oak (Quercus ilex) on the high plain, ij mile south 
of 'Abdin. It is often used as a rendezvous by those 
coming from different places, who wish to travel 
together. 

'Ain en Nakhlah. — A perennial spring, near the 
mouth of the Wady ez Zeyyatm, surrounded by a 
few mud huts of the 'Arab el Menadireh, used as 
grain magazines. The stream waters the gardens 
containing fig-trees, pomegranates, vines, palms, 
etc., belonging to the tribe. 

'Ain el Ekseir. — A perennial spring lying 100 yards 
north of the village of El Ekseir. It runs out of a 
•crack in a great basaltic block, and is partly built 
up with masonry. It is conducted through an open 
channel of hollowed stones about 12 yards long, now 
partly ruined and filled with mud, but originally a foot 
deep and a foot wide and rectangular (Fig. 7). It 
supplies two sarcophagi, which are used as troughs 
for watering the herds, and afterwards irrigates some 
kitchen gardens in the vicinity, and such water as 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



47 



remains over trickles down the northern slopes of the 
Shari'ah el Menadireh. The sarcophagi above 
mentioned are of basalt, very much weathered and 
broken, and each has on its longer side an orna- 
mentation illustrated in Fig. 8, but which is now 
much defaced. The flow of water is plentiful, but 
is said to be unhealthy, and causes fever in those 
who drink it regularly. Above the spring, on the 
rocks out of which it flows, there is some masonry 
work having the character of ancient fortifications. 
Huge blocks of basaltic stones are piled up in a row, 



forming thus a great wall many yards long and 
about a yard thick. It would seem to have been 
built to protect the spring. 

'Ain 'Ally ah. — A perennial spring of good supply 
and excellent water, at the village of Esh Shejarah. 
It flows round the western part of the village, and 
irrigates the vegetable gardens. 

'Ain Dakkar. — A miserable-looking village of thirty 
huts, built of stone and mud, and containing about 
sixty Muhammedans. It is situated on a stony hill, and 
is the property of the Sheikh Muhammed es Smeir, 
head sheikh of the Wulid 'Ali es Smeir, a branch of 





Fig. 7. 



Fig. 8. 



48 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



the great tribe of the 'Anazeh Bedawin, the most 
numerous of the tribes inhabiting the Hauran. He 
has settled this place with the ' Aulad,' or members of 
his family. There are remains of a rock-built wall 
round the eastern side of the village, and some further 
traces of buildings. At the foot of the hill, about 
24 feet below the village, towards the east, there 
breaks from the rocks the 'Ain Dakkar, a large 
stream of perennial, clear, cool water, which is 
superior to any other found throughout this country. 
The spring is full of fish, and is built up with masonry, 
and beside it are the ruins of a mill. The brook is 
fed by springs rising in the north, and after flowing 
round the southern part of the village, becomes a 
powerful stream, which turns two mills belonging to 
the sheikh above mentioned. Further down towards 
the south-west it forms the remarkable waterfall 
near Seisun. Although there is abundance of water, 
the neighbourhood of 'Ain Dakkar is so extremely 
stony that there is hardly any cultivation. The 
inhabitants subsist, as a rule, on the milk of their 
numerous flocks. A Roman road, beside which 
runs the modern one, passes to the north of the 
village, and near it are some ruins. The place must 
in former times have been of some importance, and 
the ancient remains scattered around bear traces of 
a Roman origin. 

About 400 yards east of 'Ain Dakkar there are 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



49 



some ruins of a more distinct character, on either 
side of the ancient roadway, near the point where 
this last is joined by another Roman road coming 
from the south-east. Here, in the midst of ruined 
buildings, lie seven columns of basalt, which are 
of a very peculiar shape. The shafts of the 
columns, which at the present day are considerably 
weathered, are on an average 4 feet 11 inches 
long, and cylindrical, 1 foot 6 inches in diameter. 



The bases of the columns, also round, are 1 foot 
10 inches in diameter, and about a foot high. In 
six out of the seven columns the shafts do not rise 
perpendicularly from their respective bases, but slant 
upwards, at an angle of about 110 degrees from the 
horizontal line of the base (Fig. 9). The shaft of 
the seventh column (S) (Fig. 11), however, stands 
perpendicular on its base. Near these were six 
wedge-shaped, cylindrical blocks (Fig. 10) (a) ; and 
six rectangular blocks (6) of larger dimensions, which 

4 




Fig. 9. 



50 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



worked into the shape of a pyramid, and which were 
2 feet 8 inches broad and high, and 2 feet 4 inches 
across ; also another (c) 1 yard high, 1 feet 8 inches 
broad and 1 foot across ; and lastly, a column (A), 
consisting of a circular, conical shaft 4 feet 7 inches 
high, supported on a round base 10 inches high, 
these being respectively 1 foot 10 inches and 2 feet in 
diameter. It is evident that these together are the 
remains of what was once .a six-sided, conical build- 




ing, probably the upper part of a Roman toll-house, 
or of a monument placed to mark the junction of two 
important roads. Apparently the slanting columns 
were placed at the angles, while in the centre the 
perpendicular one rose up and supported the cone A, 
which formed the apex of the whole (Fig. n). On 
the base of the central perpendicular column (S) 
there is a defaced inscription in Roman characters, 
but of which the letters S ... IB . . . P M . . . alone 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



5i 




Fig. 11. 



could be deciphered. These columns are of basalt, 
the central one (S) being worked with greater care 
than the other six, which are very roughly hewn. 

9 Ain Hamdtah. — A perennial spring, of considerable 
volume and of good water, but partially built up. It 
is near the Khurbet Hamatah. From it a stream 
of excellent water runs round Jamleh, while another 
branch flows southwards into the Wady ez Zeyyatin. 

'Arab Izluf. — A small Bedawin tribe, camping south 
of Esh Shejarah, and cultivating land there. 

'Arab el FuddeL — A branch of this great Bedawin 

4—2 



52 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



tribe inhabits Jaulan. They graze west and north 
of Esh Shejarah. 

'Arab eVAnazeh. — This great Bedouin tribe, which 
is the most numerous of those found in Hauran and 
Jaulan, have settled at 'Ain Dakkar, and graze their 
flocks in the northern part of the Zawiyeh esh 
Shurkiyeh. They will be more thoroughly described 
in the section relating to Western Hauran. 

Beit Erry. — A small village on the upper part of 
the western slopes of Wady ez Zeyyatin ; its houses, 
about twenty-five in number, are built of stones and 
mud, and shelter a population of about ninety 
Muslems. It has some arable land in its neighbour- 
hood. There are remains of ancient habitations of 
some considerable extent. Ritter, in his ' Erdkunde ' 
(xv. b, ii. b, p. 826), mentions a ruin called ' Bethirra,' 
discovered by Seetzen, and quotes Josephus (' Antiq.,' 
xvii. 2), who makes mention of a certain ' Bethura ' 
(Badvpa), which was a fortress built by Herod in 
Bathanea. The town during the Byzantine occupa- 
tion was held by a garrison. Seetzen, however, 
seems to have been misled as to its position, for he 
places it to the south-east of Tsil, it being in fact 
situated to the south-west, and above 11 miles due 
west of Tell el Ash'ary. 

Bzr esh Shejarah. — A perennial spring of good water, 
to the north of the village of Esh Shejarah. A small 
stream runs from it, giving a good supply. 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH, 



53 



Beit A kkdr. — An important ruin on the western 
borders of the 'Allan. The remains are situated on 
an artificial hill, rising about 35 feet above the plain, 
which stands on the edge of a remarkable precipice 
of basalt rocks, curving round in horseshoe form, at 
the base of which winds the 'Allan. These perpen- 
dicular cliffs are from 70 to 90 feet in height. On 
its western flanks the hill is bounded by the Wddy 
Beit A kkdr, which in summer is dry and is only of the 
length of the ruins, but which, from its depressed 
situation, must in winter to some extent be the bed 
of a torrent. Apparently this wady is not of natural 
formation, but has been dug out to form a ditch, 
and thus complete the fortified position of Beit 
Akkar, which on the north-east and east is bounded 
by the high cliffs of the 'Allan (see Fig. 20). The 
position was therefore unapproachable, except by 
way of the neck running down to it from the north. 
Besides the ruins on the central hill, to be described 
presently, all the country bordering the above- 
mentioned gorge to the south, west, and north, 
for a distance of 100 yards and more in every direc- 
tion, is covered with traces of large buildings, some 
above 30 and 40 yards square ; the walls of which 
still stand some 3 feet above the plain. The main 
ruin on the hill consists of a solid rectangular build- 
ing 43 feet square, the summit of which commands 
the whole neighbourhood. It is surrounded on the 



54 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



east, south, and west by a covered corridor, 6 feet 
6 inches wide and 5 feet high. The ceiling of this 
corridor is formed of slabs of basalt (Fig. 12). In 



Corri dor. 




Fig. 12. 

its southern side-wall are a series of openings or 
perpendicular loopholes, 2 feet square, divided one 




Plan of loop holes. 




Fig. 13. 

from the other by an upright stone (Fig. 13), and 
these look into a second corridor, running parallel 
with the southern length of the first, being 8 feet wide, 
5 feet high, and roofed in the same manner ; and 
from this again other loopholes open into a third and 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



55 



outer corridor. Towards the courtyard, the exterior 
corridor has no loopholes. It appears also that the 
corridors had no direct communication each with the 
other except through these loopholes. From the re- 
mains it is probable that the interior corridor had 
its entrance from the east ; the middle one being 
entered from the west, and the exterior one from 
the west also. The walls of the main building are 
between 2 feet and 2 feet 3 inches thick, well built 
and cemented with white mortar, but at the present 
day they rise no higher than slabs which roof the 



< 1-10 » 






1 


" I 


ft 1G m 


Ir 



Fig. 14. 



corridors, about 6 feet above the ground. This central 
building, which must have been the actual fortress, 
is surrounded by large masses of ruins which show 
traces of buildings and walls. On the east and west 
lies the court, in which are found the remains of 
columns, much weather-worn, of the shape given in 
Fig. 14. On the south side there are marks of a gate- 
way through the inmost of the triple walls of defence ; 
and from this gate steps must have led westwards 
down a descent entirely commanded by the works of 
the central castle. On the north-east also, it would 



56 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



seem as though a gate had existed in^the exterior 
wall. The first wall which surrounds the court is a 
yard thick, and, in the portion still standing, has 
loopholes towards the east. On a terrace below 
this, a second wall of still more solid construction 
runs round the hill, and on the lowest terrace, almost 
on the level of the plain, a third wall, 5 feet thick, 

.Plan of Ej Jama ah. at Beit AJckar; 

+ " Scale 



5 + 3 z 1 o Sfeet 




Fig. 15. 



built of great blocks of basalt, is the outermost work 
of the fortification. On the north and north-east, 
where the castle is not defended by the ditch, 
this outermost wall is most carefully constructed, 
and is lofty in appearance ; it is built, as stated 
before, of huge, rudely-shaped basaltic blocks with- 
out mortar, and must be of a much earlier date than 
the two upper walls, which contain building-stones 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



57 



of more moderate size. In the northern part of the 
court, and near the castle, stands a well-preserved 
and very ancient building, now partly below the level 
of the ground, 33 feet 9 inches long outside and 
22 feet 1 inch wide, called Ej Jama' ah (Fig. 15). 
Inside it contains a single chamber divided by two 
flat-pointed arches into three nearly equal divisions. 
The unornamented piers, from which the arches 
spring, advance 4 feet 8 inches from the wall, leaving 




Fig. 16. 



19 feet 9 inches for the span of each arch. The main 
entrance is from the south through an arched doorway 
(Fig. 16) (a), 4 feet 11 inches wide and 5 feet 6 inches 
high ; the shape of the arch being an irregular oval, 
with a key-stone in the crown. Besides this there is 
a second door (b), 3 feet 3 inches wide, to the west, 
but now filled up ; while a third door (c), 3 feet 3 
inches wide, but blocked by a fig-tree, opens to 
the north. Both of these are of rectangular shape, 



58 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



with horizontal lintels. The walls of the building 
are 2 feet 4 inches thick, well built, and without 
mortar, while the ceiling is formed of rude slabs of 




Fig. 17. 

basalt. The stones which are used in the construc- 
tion of the flat-pointed arches are hewn, and of 



Relief Ornament on the Spring of the Arch., 
at the Jam aah, 13 . Are^Lar . 




Fig. i 8. 

considerable size, for the voussoirs of the arches 
are 2 feet 4 inches through, and at the ends 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



59 



measure I foot by i foot 10 inches (Fig. 17). 
Entering by the southern door, there is on the 
spring of the first arch a peculiar vine ornamenta- 
tion roughly cut in the stone (Fig. 18) ; and in 
the yard, at the opening (&), are lying two roughly- 
worked and weather-worn capitals with their pros- 
trate columns, which are 1 foot in diameter (Fig. 19). 
The floor of the arched room is now covered with mud 
and rubbish. From the spring to the crown of the 



arch there is about 8 feet, while from the floor to the 
crown is 10 feet. The remains which cover the hill 
extend 480 feet from north to south, and about 300 
feet from east to west ; while the whole site covered 
by the ruins, including those found on the plain, 
occupies an area of about 17 acres. 

The ruins on the plain and the central castle 
would apparently date from the time of the early 
Arab occupation of the country, but the massive ex- 
terior wall on the east and north, and the Jama'ah, 
the building above described, where the vine orna- 
ment with the vase would suggest probably a Jewish 



<— -/ -7- 




Basalt columns. 
FIG. 19. 



6o EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



origin, must be referred at latest to the first cen- 
turies of the Christian era. 

The ruins are at present uninhabited, and serve only 
as a shelter for the flocks ; they are the property of 




Fig. 20. 

the people of Esh Shejarah. The accompanying plan 
of Beit Akkar (Fig. 20), together with the reproduc- 
tion of a photograph taken from the south (Fig. 21), 
may serve to make clear the foregoing description. 
Buruk. — A copious spring rising a little north-east 



62 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



of Tell Buruk, in a marsh. The stream, after passing 
through some small ditches, takes a southerly course 
to Kefr es Samir, where it joins the Wady of Moyet 
Ayyub. In the beginning it is a rushing brook, but 
it soon disappears in the dry wady. (It bears the 
name Buruk alone, not 'Ain Buruk.) 

Dolmens. — Coming from 'Ain Dakkar, and follow- 
ing the Roman road in a north-easterly direction 
towards the bridge of the Rukkad, there occurs an 
extensive field of dolmens. The dolmen-field begins 
half a mile north-east of 'Ain Dakkar. Here a 
marsh, formed by a small spring, rising a little north 
of the road, surrounds a stony region of about 
30 acres, which is completely covered with dolmens. 
200 yards north of this again a second field extends 
for about a mile west, over a slightly elevated ground, 
down to the Jisr er Rukkad, and covers an area of 
120 acres. The dolmens have thus the Roman road 
as a southern limit, and go down to the Rukkad, 
while a few extend over to the south of it, being 
situated close above the high cliff and cataract, and 
along the borders of that stream. Whether or not 
Khurbet Saidy, situated above the eastern cliff, was 
also formerly covered with dolmens, cannot now be 
clearly ascertained ; but the remains of large flat 
stones, which almost cover the small hill, make this 
not an improbable conjecture. The whole country 
round is extremely stony, and quite unfit for cultiva- 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



63 



tion, being covered with small volcanic mounds, 
from which are taken the large stone slabs used in 
the construction of dolmens. Figs. 22 and 26, re- 
produced from photographs, give the general appear- 
ance of these monuments. The first (A) is a speci- 
men of an unopened dolmen, built on a double 
terrace of basalt stones, which has a total height of 
3 feet 2 inches ; on this is erected a row of upright 




Dolmen near 'Am Dakkar (A) Jaulan. 
Scale 

s « 3 2 1 5 -feet 

Fig. 22. 

slabs 3 feet to 4 feet 7 inches high, and 1 foot to 
1 foot 8 inches thick. These surround a covered 
chamber, from 7 to 13 feet long, the sides of which 
are not parallel, for at its western extremity the 
average width is 4 feet 6 inches, and at its eastern 
3 feet 3 inches only. The main axis of the building 
runs east and west. A single slab closes the eastern, 
another the western end, and generally two suffice 
for each of the long sides. On the top a great slab 



64 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



of basalt — of an irregular square — 7 to 8 feet 
or even more in either direction, and from 1 to 
2 feet thick, covers the dolmen, having at the corners 
of the western end two raised headings (see Figs. 
23 and 24). Should the chamber exceed 8 feet in 



Plan of 
Dolmens near Ain Dakkar. 

A. 

Northern aivd Southern Longside 




Fig. 23. 



Western side. 




Fig. 24. 



length, two slabs of irregular shape laid close 
together serve to cover it in. The double terrace 
on which the dolmen stands is circular in plan 
(Fig. 25), the lower terrace having a diameter of 
from 19 to 23 feet. Figs. 26 and 27 show a specimen 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



65 



of an opened dolmen (B) without headings on the 
roofing slab, which is formed of two blocks. Other- 
wise the general arrangement is the same as that 
described in dolmen A. 

The dolmens lie generally about 10 yards apart, 
but^do not appear to have been placed in any regular 



Ground PI an of a Dolmen with Headings 




Scale 

t * 3 z 1 5 10 15 20 

Fig. 25. 

order. An examination of many specimens makes 
it apparent (1) that the dolmens of this district are 
always built on circular terraces, which elevate them 
about 3 feet above the ground ; (2) that in most cases 
they are formed by six upright and two covering slabs ; 
(3) that the major axis of the dolmens all run east 

5 



66 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



and west ; (4) that the western side of the dolmen is 
broader than the eastern ; (5) that the western side 
is often distinguished by headings, one on each 
corner of the top slab ; and (6) that they vary in 
size from 7 to 13 feet in length. 

When the great number of dolmens found in this 
field, and their lying in such close proximity each to 




Dolmen. /B) near Ain Dakkar 
View, into the interior from Oie .East 

Scale 

S t 3 Z 1 5 fat, 



Fig. 26. 

the other is considered in connection with the general 
characteristics noted above, it is difficult to avoid the 
conclusion that these dolmens were built originally 
as burial-places. The covered chamber elevated 
above the ground, and shut in by slabs, was the first 
beginning of a sarcophagus ; and the body was laid, 
facing the rising sun, with its head in the west, — as 
is proved by the orientation of the main axis, the 
double heading, and the greater width of the 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 67 



western end. Since the greater number of the 
dolmens measured from 12 to 13 feet in length 
(those of from 7 to 8 feet being comparatively 
rare), it is possible that they were intended to contain 
two bodies each, in a line, unless it is deemed pre- 
ferable to resort to the hypothesis c that there were 
giants in those days.' 

Mr. Guy le Strange, who visited this dolmen-field 
some months after my discovery of it, chanced to 




Fig. 27. 



find one or two dolmens now for the most part 
in ruins, but in which he observed a small opening 
about 2 feet in diameter (being sufficiently large to 
crawl through), and of a roundish shape, pierced in 
the eastern end slab. Circular openings of this kind 
have been found in dolmens in other parts of the 
world ; but I do not know that any have been noticed 
before in the Syrian specimens, and on the occasion 
of my first visit to this field I failed to observe them. 
Standing on one dolmen, I counted round me over 

5—2 



68 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



160 of these monuments ; and I compute that 
from two to three times that number would scarce 
suffice for the sum-total of all the dolmens found 
in this district. 

A great many of these dolmens have already been 
opened by the natives, with a view of searching 
them for treasure, but hitherto without result, as 
they informed me ; to the Arabs they are known by 
the name of Kubur Beni Ismil — ' the graves of the 
children of Israel.' 

A considerable number however are still intact, and 
by opening them carefully, with the necessary instru- 
ments, interesting discoveries might possibly be 
made. In some of the ruined ones animal bones 
are found, which the Bedawin are prone to call 
bones of ' Beni Adam,' or sons of men ; but in reality 
they are merely the remains of a feast of the 
jackals. 

In Western Hauran also, not far from Tsil, I dis- 
covered another field of Dolmens, which, as far 
as I am aware, has hitherto escaped observation. A 
description of it will be found in the next chapter. 

During a second visit to the region lying between 
'Ain Hamatah and 'Ain Dakkar, I made the dis- 
covery that the dolmen-field of the ' Kubur Beni 
Israil ' spreads over a far greater extent of ground than 
I had at first supposed. A more thorough examination 
of the volcanic mounds round Jamleh and Khurbet 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



69 



Hamatah shows that the summit of the greater 
number of the Tells is crowned by a fallen dolmen, 
the stones of which have been re-arranged by the 
Bedawin to serve as sheepfolds. Some, however, 
remain intact and are in their original condition of 
perfect dolmens. 

In the opinion of my travelling companion, Dr. 
Noetling (a geologist), these Cells' have been thrown 
up from a stream of volcanic matter, which on its 
course has been obstructed by some obstacle, and, 
bursting out, has elevated these mounds to their 
present height. On these the lava or basalt occurs in 
slabs, and thus furnishes the material required in the 
construction of the dolmens. In the surrounding 
country, which is a region entirely covered by the 
lava stream, there are in many places other remains 
of dolmens, some fallen, some still standing. The 
Wady 'Ain Dakkar is their western limit, beyond 
which they do not appear. Eastwards they spread 
to a line w T hich runs from Rujm Karian to Kaukab, 
which line also forms the boundary of the lava stream 
on the east. North of 'Ain Dakkar the dolmens 
continue to be found for a considerable distance, 
and specimens occur up to Ghadir el Bustan, and even 
further north ; but they are here far more scarce 
than in the south. The best preserved specimens 
are found among those known as the Kubur Beni 
Israil ; elsewhere they are all more or less in ruins, 



7o EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



though in general disposition they resemble the ones 
shown in Figs. 22 and 26. Near Khurbet Hamatah, 
however, a few well-preserved dolmens are found, 
which differ slightly from those of the Kubur Beni 
Israil in that, instead of terraces, the dolmen is sur- 
rounded merely by a wall of stones (Fig. 28). 

The dolmen itself is generally built up with two 



to three long slabs on each long side, and one across 
each end, west and east, with a roof of a single slab, 
or sometimes two set together. The interior is wider 
in the western than in the eastern end, the height 
being the same as in those near 'Ain Dakkar, but no 
opening in any of them was discovered. The whole 
dolmen outside has a length of from 8 feet 5 inches 
to 9 feet, and a width of 4 feet. 2 feet 7 inches from 
its walls a row of stones, 3 [feet 3 inches high, sur- 





Fig. 28. 



EZ ZAWIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



7i 



round the dolmen, forming thus a rectangular fence 
in place of the circular terrace found in those near 
Beit Akkar. The whole construction is often raised 
on a small mound, but sometimes stands on the 
level ground. The surrounding fence, which is 
nearly as high as the vertical stones forming the 
dolmen, masks the greater part of it, and gives to the 
whole a very strange appearance. The distances 
between these dolmens vary, and they are placed in 
no regular order. 

Near to them are found lines formed by blocks of 
basalt, which serve to surround rectangular spaces 
of ground, about 26 feet long, by 13 feet wide ; the 
major axis is from west to east, and the stones 
which stand round average 3 feet in height. No 
distinction as to the size or arrangement of the blocks 
is observable. These sacred squares are very 
numerous in the vicinity of Khurbet Hamatah, and in 
their dimensions they vary considerably . The whole 
neighbourhood of Hamatah would form a rich field 
for archaeological investigation, and much that is both 
interesting and important might be gathered from 
the rude stone monuments which are here so 
numerous. After having again visited this por- 
tion of Jaulan, I am convinced that this region — 
which in geological times was covered by a wide 
stream of lava, and comprises all the land lying be- 
tween Esh Shejarah and Tell el Farras, and, from 



72 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



the Rukkad and the 'Allan extends eastwards to the 
dolmens of Tsil — is, in fact, but one vast field of 
these rude stone monuments. Nature had here pro- 
vided the ancient inhabitants of the country with a 
suitable material from which to erect, here in the 
desert formed by the lava stream, monuments to 
perpetuate the memory of the dead. 

El Ekseir. — A village of thirty-five huts, irregularly 
built, of stone and clay, now partly deserted, close 
to the steep northern bank of the Shari'at el Mena- 
direh. The threshing-floor on the north is exten- 
sive. Here, in September, 1884, large quantities of 
wheat and barley were piled up ready for transport. 
The village has good arable lands. Ruins are found 
scattered about. The water-supply is from a copious 
perennial spring, 'Am el Ekseir, to the north, already 
described (see p. 46). The population number about 
100 souls ; but is decreasing, on account of the water 
they drink being so unwholesome and producing 
fever. The view from here is fine, commanding the 
head of the Yarmuk Valley, and the junction of 
the rivers Ehreir and Shelaleh (see Fig. 29). 

Gliadir elBustan. — A deserted village, on the eastern 
borders of the Rukkad, containing but few huts, 
partly inhabited, partly abandoned, and mostly used 
as storehouses for crops. Ruins are scattered about, 
springs are numerous, their waters now flowing 
through the neglected gardens. It is the highest 



EZ ZA WIYEHESH SHURKIYEH. 



73 



and most northern village of the Zawiyeh, its eleva- 
tion being 1,912 feet above the sea. 



Jvwhdifjrv of ike JEhrdr -with/the S. dsMmxuhrehi 




View of the head, of the S.el MejvadireK 
from near £1 Ekseir. 

Fig. 29. — From a photograph. 

El Ghadtr. — A round pool ot beautiful, clear, blue 
water, formed by a cataract. It lies in the bed of 



74 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



the 'Allan, near Beit Akkar, and is swarming 
with fish. It is apparently deep, and is bordered 
by a luxurious growth of cane or 'kussub.' There 
is a second pool, of the same name, a little south of 
the first (see p. 17). 

Hartah. — A village in the 'Ajlun, unexplored. Ex- 
tensive olive groves. 

Khurbet Hamdtah. — Extensive ruins cover a hill, 
about a mile north-east of Jamleh. The spring, 'Ain 
Hamdtah, has a considerable supply of good water, 
and is a perennial stream (see Dolmens, p. 69 et seq.). 

Jamleh. — A village on the eastern slopes of the 
Rukkad. It contains thirty-six huts, built generally of 
stone ; its population consists of about 160 Muham- 
medans. The village, which is but a poverty-stricken 
place within, commands a fine view (see Fig. 30) 
down into the Rukkad, with a portion of the northern 
Zawiyeh beyond. Vegetables are cultivated in the 
ground lying to the south-west and north of the 
village, where also fig-trees grow. The place is 
supplied with excellent water by the stream coming 
from 'Ain Hamatah, which flows round the village 
and irrigates the gardens. Some ruins, built with 
large and ancient stones, are in the neighbourhood. 
There is but little arable land here, but a good 
pasture-ground lies to the south. 

To the south-east, east, and north-east, lying close 
to the village, are great numbers of Rujms, or volcanic 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



75 



mounds, which rise from 24 to 30 feet above the 
plain. On some of their summits may be found 
unevenly marked circles or squares, 8 to 10 feet 
across, formed of rude basaltic blocks. These 
would appear to be similar to the sacred circles 
described by Captain C. R. Conder in his * Heth and 




Yiew up the Nahr er RxLkkaxL.from Jkmleh. 
vath. the Tell el F arras in the distance (North.) 

Fig. 30. — From a photograph. 



Moab,' chap. vii. There are also traces of what 
must have been a rectangular building, standing 
close to the southern boundary of the village. Here 
large stones roughly shaped, between 4 and 5 feet 
long, and from 1 foot 6 inches to 2 feet high and 
thick, are found lying near each other. Judging 



76 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



from these remains, Jamleh would appear to have 
been a place of considerable antiquity. 

Ej Jendneh, a slope formerly cultivated, and said 
to have been planted with fruit-trees (Jeneineh 
= little garden). It lies a little above the bed of 
the Rukkad River, below ' Abdin and westwards from 
the Tell el Ehdeib. 

Jisr el 'Allan. — A stone bridge of four arches, 
now in ruins, crossing the Nahr el 'Allan, on the 
road between Tsil and 'Ain Dakkar. The main arch 
is semicircular, and under it the diminished stream 
passes in summer. This arch has a span of 28 feet 10 
inches, and is 13 feet 3 inches from its crown to the 
surface of the stream (September, 1884). East of it, 
there are two smaller pointed arches, one with a 
span of 10 feet ; the other, at the margin of the bed of 
the stream, being 8 feet 3 inches. To the west of the 
great arch there is a single pointed arch 10 feet 
across. The arches are connected by piers, 5 feet 
4 inches broad, having pointed stream- starlings 
towards the north, for the 'Allan brings down in 
its course a great quantity of mud. The whole 
bridge over the bed of the 'Allan is 115 feet long, 
and the roadway seems to have been carried in a hori- 
zontal line ; it is 16 feet 4 inches broad, being thus 
a little narrower than the Roman road. There are 
remains of a causeway leading from the bridge, 
but now totally 'ruined, which carried the ancient 



EZ ZAWIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



77 



Roman road across a depression to the east. This 
would give for the original construction a total 
length of 660 feet. The stones of the Jisr el 'Allan 
are hewn and laid in white mortar, with small joints 
between, and the road platform was paved. The 
present road crosses the 'Allan, south of the Jisr, 
which is now completely ruined and unused. At its 
western end, a modern tomb is~ to be seen, also 
remains of dolmens are noticeable on this side ; 
on the east, too, these monuments are found near 
the Jisr. (See above, Dolmens, p. 62). 

Jisr er Rukkdd. — A stone bridge spanning the Nahr 
er Rukkad, i{ mile north-west of 'Ain Dakkar. It 
has eight pointed arches. The three in the middle 
are each of them 16 feet 6 inches wide, and 12 feet 
high, from the crown to the^water (September, 1884), 
and through them the stream flows in summer. East 
of these three middle arches there are a fourth and a 
fifth arch, respectively 15 feet 10 inches and 9 feet 9 
inches wide. West of the three middle arches there 
are three which have each of them a span of 14 feet 
9 inches. The arches are^connected by piers 7 feet 
11 inches broad, and have stream-starlings up the 
river (Fig. 31). The bridgels less broad than the one 
over the 'Allan. The roadway, which is 14 feet 9 
inches across, is paved with basalt blocks, and runs in 
a horizontal line. Its total length is 249 feet. The 
Jisr er Rukkad is at the present day in better 



78 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



condition than is the 'Allan bridge, and was strongly 
built with mortar and good-sized stones. Its ex- 
tremities, however, are in a ruined condition, and 
the bridge is therefore only used by foot-passen- 
gers, being impracticable for animals. The bed of 
the stream is crowded with great basaltic blocks, 
and the stream itself, in the rainy season, rises con- 
siderably and then becomes unfordable. This bridge is 




Fig. 31. 



said by the Bedawin to mark the limit of snowfall 
in Eastern Jaulan, for as far south as this during the 
winter the snow regularly comes. The roadway of 
the bridge was found to have an elevation of 1,610 feet 
above the sea-level. In the bridges over the 'Allan and 
the Rukkad it will be noted that the roadways are 
horizontal, and in this they differ from those over the 
Jordan built in Arabian times, where the highest point 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



79 



is in the middle, the bridge sloping down towards its 
ends. Hence it is probable that the Jisrs of the 'Allan 
and Rukkad date from Roman times, and this con- 
jecture is supported by the fact that the two are still 
connected by a tolerably well-preserved Roman road.. 

El Kuweyyeh. — A few miserable huts, built of mud 
and stone, on the northern slopes of the Shari'ah el 
Menadireh. They are the property of the 'Arab el 
Menadireh, who camp in this valley, and who use 
these huts as grain magazines. In the neighbour- 
hood are springs, gardens of pomegranates, and 
vineyards, with other cultivated lands. Also there 
are some remains of ruins. 

Kum ej jfarez. — A small mound, ij miles south- 
west of Esh Shejarah, covered with scattered ruins. 

Kum ez Zeyyatin. — A small hill, i mile to the north- 
west of Esh Shejarah, having some ruins on its 
summit. The Wady ez Zeyyatin passes by, and de- 
rives its name from the mound, which is said to have 
been formerly covered with olive-trees (Zeyyatin). 

Kefr el Ma. — A large and flourishing village of the 
Zawiyeh el Ghurbiyeh, the houses of which are 
generally built of stone. It stands on the summit of 
the western slopes of the Nahr er Rukkad. The 
sheikh, Muhammed el Ahsein, states that the village 
contains over 100 men, which would give 225 grown 
people, or a total population of about 300 souls.. 
They occupy about eighty houses. The streets are 



So EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



wide and tolerably regular ; the dwellings of the 
sheikh and his family are well-built, and are in the 
western part of the village. A good spring on the 
south quarter, surrounded by ancient masonry, supplies 
drinking water and irrigates the vegetable gardens. 
All around are scattered remains and ruins. Among 
the rest are noticeable broken capitals of the 
Cori nthian order, with the acanthus-leaf ornamenta- 
tion, also stones with Roman mouldings, and the 



Part of Niche at Keir el Ma. 




Fig. 32. 

semicircular headpiece which once must have sur- 
mounted a niche illustrated in Fig. 32. 

In the yard of one of the houses of the Fellahs I 
discovered an ancient statue of basalt (Figs. 33 and 
34), 3 feet 2 inches high, which evidently is still 
standing on its original base ; but the whole is now 
covered by rubbish, and lies below the level of the yard ; 
and for a thorough investigation some excavation 
would be necessary. From this same place an altar 
{Fig. 35), 1 foot 10 inches high, has been dug up, 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



81 




Fig. 33— Ancient statue, found at Kefr el Ma. Photograph 
No. 1 (retouched). 

Pivot . 2. showing the head piece of the Statue. 




Fig. 34. 

and now stands in the sheikh's dwelling. These 
monuments have every appearance of dating from 



82 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



the very earliest times, and I imagine they are relics 
of the ancient Hauranian worship. Dionysus or 
Dusarah appears to have been a god held in high 
esteem by the idolatrous Arabs of the first and second 
century a.d. The image here found may be that of 
the idol, and the altar, which is remarkable for the 

Altar found at Keir el Ma_. 




t-fbot 



Fig. 35. 



circular ornamentation which surrounds the top, I 
conclude may have served for offerings or libations to 
the god. The altar, I was told, was originally found on 
the top of the statue. It is, however, possible that 
the altar and idol are Phoenician in workmanship, 
and represent a deity allied to the Egyptian god Set. 
In 1 Maccabees ch. 5, a place Alima in Gilead is 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



33 



mentioned, of which Kefr el Ma is possibly the 
site.*" 

Kaukab. — A ruin of some extent, lying south-east of 
the Rujm el Mushabbah. The remains consist of a 
remarkable pile of ancient building-stones, and there 
are traces of ancient walls, but the stones are devoid 
of ornamentation. The spot occupies a low elevation, 
in the stony part of Eastern Jaulan. 

M'arri, — An uninhabited spot, where there are 
scattered ruins of considerable extent, but no re- 
mains of any archaeological interest. It lies in close 
proximity to, and east of, 'Arkub er Rahwah — the 
presumed Argob of the Bible — and on the same 
shoulder of the hill. The appellation 1 M'arri ' is 
from the name of a Muhammedan saint buried under 
an old butm or terebinth-tree near by. The 'Arab el 
Menadireh cultivate the hill-slopes and grow tobacco 
here, also grain and vegetables. A few small caves 
were found near the tomb of the saint. 

* When passing a night at this place during the autumn of 
1884, 1 took occasion to note that the inhabitants, in pronouncing 
the name of their village, lay the accent on the syllable //, saying 
Kefr-el-Ma. This, I imagine, indicates that the name is not 
to be taken to mean, 'Village of the Water, 5 which would 
be the obvious explanation of the words, for in that case they 
would pronounce Kefr-el-Ma, with the accent on the Ma. 
This peculiarity of the pronunciation, I think, confirms Mr. 
Schumacher's conjecture that we have here the modern equi- 
valent of an ancient name, and renders the more plausible the 
identification with ' Alima' of the Book of Maccabees.— G. le S. 

6—2 



84 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



El Musreitiyeh. — A ruin standing close on the 
perpendicular eastern cliffs of the Rukkad. It con- 
sists of scattered stones, which are evidently ancient, 
though now used to form sheepfolds. 

Nahr er Rukkad. — The large and rapid river, 
which divides the Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh from the 
Zawiyeh el Ghurbiyeh. It is a branch of the 
Shari'at el Menadireh (see above, p. 13). 

Nahr el 'A lldn, the boundary between the present 
Jaulan and Hauran. Together with the Wady el 
Ehreir of Hauran, it forms the head-waters of the 
Shari'at el Menadireh (see above, p. 16). 

Ndfa'ah. — A village containing about thirty-five 
huts, built of stone and mud, situated on a slight eleva- 
tion in the middle of the stony part of the Zawiyeh 
esh Shurkiyeh. Its arable land extends eastwards 
towards Kaukab and the 'Allan ; the soil is good. 
The population consists of about 160 Muhammedans. 
The village must have been more important in 
former times, as is shown by the considerable remains, 
which surround it, of modern and ancient dwellings. 
To the east are the ruins of a large building known 
as El Khan. 

Rds el Hdl, also called Tell el Ehdeib. — A remark- 
able peak, rising 1,060 feet above the sea-level, and 
forming the eastern end of a long ridge, which rises 
in the Rukkad Valley between Jamleh and Kefr el 
Ma. At its northern point the slope is very abrupt 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



S5 



down into the Rukkad, having at the north-eastern 
angle a cliff 522 feet high. Its southern slopes are 
more gentle, and only attain an elevation of about 
300 feet, bordering a pleasant valley, irrigated by a 
small stream of good water. The Tell el Ehdeib 
thus divides the Rukkad Valley into two parts. 
Along its highest ridge traces of ruins were observed 
(see above, p. 6). 

Rasm el Haurah. — A basaltic and volcanic mound 
in the northern part of the Zawiyeh, some 300 yards 
north of the Roman road. Its summit is fenced round 
with stones to form sheepfolds. The country in the 
vicinity of this mound is peculiar, and would repay 
careful investigation by a competent geologist. In its 
neighbourhood a series of volcanic mounds, 10, 20, and 
30 feet high, are found, enclosing little dells which 
are watered by brooks rising from no visible source. 
They run off into the desert and dry up in summer, or 
else form small marshes, overgrown by plants, and 
their valleys are a rich grazing-place for the 
Bedawin flocks. One of these is the stream that 
runs down the Wddy el Ghdr. These mounds 
are evidently small extinct craters, and have much 
the appearance of those which cover the Tracho- 
nitis or Lejjah. 

Rujm Karidn. — A small volcanic mound, rising 
above the ancient lava stream, situated about a mile 
south of Nafa'ah. The 'A in Karidn is a spring of 



86 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



moderate supply, with no stream running from it ; it 
is close to the foot of the Rujm. 

Rujm el Mushabbah. — One of the highest of these 
mounds. Surmounting it is a cairn of stones 25 
feet high, set up by the 'Anazeh Bedawin, which 
serves as a watch-tower for the shepherds who 
tend the flocks of the 'Arab el 'Anazeh during the 
spring season. It is situated south of the Roman 
road, between the two Jisrs of 'Allan and Rukkad. 

Rujm el Akrei'a. — A volcanic mound, north of the 
Roman road, near the Jisr el 'Allan. 

Shejarah esh Sheikh Ahsein. — The tomb or weli 
of a Muhammedan saint, under an ancient butm 
tree (terebinth), near the Rujm el Meshabbah. 

Esh Shejarah. — A large village in the southern 
part of the Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh. It contains 
138 houses, and has a Muhammedan population of 
rather over 450 souls. The upper quarter of the 
village is remarkable for its wide streets, containing 
the dwellings of the sheikh, his family and relations. 
The houses here are neatly built of masonry, being 
carefully plastered without. Below this is the quarter 
of the Fellahm, where the huts are of mud and 
stone, as in the villages already described. And sur- 
rounding this again is a suburb of mean hovels, many 
of them partly covered in and walled with mats, 
which harbour every kind of vermin. This last 
quarter is tenanted by emigrants from other villages 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



37 



and Bedawin, who here make their first essays in 
town life. 

During the winter of 1882 the inhabitants dis- 
covered and opened an ancient tomb, excavated in the 
ground lying to the north of the village. This tomb 
(Fig. 36) is of rectangular shape, 6 feet 6 inches 
long, 4 feet 3 inches wide, and 5 feet deep ; its 
longer side running nearly exactly east and west. 
It is well built of carefully hewn basalt blocks, and 




Section. Plan. 
Fig. 36. — Tomb at Esh Shejarah. 



was roofed with unhewn slabs of the same material. 
The villagers asserted that they had found several 
skulls lying at the western end of the tomb. These 
they had reburied, but declined to show me the 
spot. I was, however, fortunate enough to dig up 
some teeth and the parts of a skull, which had 
recently been reburied near the ancient tomb. The 
fragments are well preserved, and their number 
would tend to show that the tomb was con- 
structed to be the burial-place of more than one 
individual. I also found in the tomb some pieces of 
ancient glass bottles, very thin, which were probably 



88 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



the remains of lachrymatories. These I would 
suggest indicate a Roman origin. The arable land 
round Esh Shejarah is not extensive, but there is 
splendid pasturage, and its inhabitants possess large 
flocks of cattle and goats. The neighbourhood 
to the north is covered with Siar, or sheepfolds, 
and in former times was often harried by the 
Bedawin, and the townsmen had much to suffer 
from their incursions. This state of things lasted 
down to the time when the powerful Sheikh 'Abd 
Allah el Midyab — of one of the oldest and most 
influential families of Western Hauran, and who re- 
sided at Nawa — became Sheikh of Esh Shejarah. 
The respect in which he is held now affords protec- 
tion to property. Since his advent, Esh Shejarah 
has considerably increased, and would continue to 
prosper, but that most of the inhabitants are in 
debt to rich and unscrupulous money-lenders at 
Damascus, who grind them down to a state that is 
little better than slavery. 

The town is well supplied with water by the 
'Ain el 'Aliyah, lying to the west, a good perennial 
spring, which irrigates the vegetable and melon 
gardens ; and also by the Bir esh Shejarah. Both 
of these give wholesome water. The rich Sheikh 
'Abd Allah is a gentlemanly and hospitable Arab, 
whose ' Menzul,' or room for strangers, is always 
filled with guests. The food provided is sup- 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKI YEH. 



89 



plied by his numerous flocks. He was originally a 
Bedawin ; is now about forty years of age, tall, with 
a long black beard, and is urbane in manner and im- 
posing in appearance. On the flat roof of his dwelling 
he has constructed huts for the summer-time, made of 
the branches of the terebinth. Of these the floor 
and the sides are covered with a plastering of clay 
mixed with straw, the latter up to a height of 2 feet 
6 inches, being from 3 to 5 inches thick; and 
these form a safe sleeping-place, which is greatly 
preferable during the hot weather to any of the 
interior rooms. The sheikh is courteous, and ex- 
ceptionally communicative to Europeans, and only 
becomes taciturn when asked about the number of 
people in his village, or the area of land cultivated by 
them. To such questions no truthful answers can be 
expected from either the inhabitants of this country, 
or from those of Western Palestine ; for it is always 
imagined that they are put with the view of the 
assessment of extra taxes. The number of houses 
and population given, here and elsewhere, have 
therefore been based on my own observations ; and 
letters of recommendation from the Governor- 
General himself would fail to elicit reliable in- 
formation. 

From Esh Shejarah northwards, the Zawiyeh is 
covered with small mounds, crowned by sheepfolds, 
and the tract is known by the name of Ej Jebal (The 



9o EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



Hills). Snow occasionally falls in winter round Esh 
Shejarah, which has a.n altitude of 1,334 feet above 
the sea-level, although, as before-mentioned, the Jisr 
er Rukkad is usually held to be the limit, south, of 
this occurrence. On the 4th of September, 1884, at 
a quarter to seven in the morning, the thermometer 
marked 67 Fahrenheit ; and at ten in the forenoon, 
75 . There had been a considerable dew-fall during 
the night. 

SharVat el Menddireh — also called by the Arabs 
Yarmuk, the representative of the ancient Hieromax 
— is the large river which forms the boundary line 
between the Jaulan and the Jebel 'Ajlun. At its 
junction with the Jordan it carries the same amount 
of water as does this last river, which it joins north of 
the Jisr el Mejami'ah. Its affluents are the streams of 
the Wady el Ehreir, the Moyet Zeizun, and the 
Wady esh Shelaleh, the three main rivers of Hauran. 
Its present name is derived from the Menadireh 
Bedawin. Further details have been given above 
(see p. 8). 

Shuffet el Ekseir. — The promontory separating the 
'Allan from the Shari'at el Menadireh, and rising 
south-east of the village of El Ekseir. It commands 
a fine view over the junction of the three rivers of 
Hauran just referred to. 

Seisun. — A ruin on the Wady Seisun, till lately 
inhabited, but now deserted. It is occasionally 



EZ ZA W1YEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



9i 



tenanted by the goat-herds and their flocks. The 
ancient ruins cover a considerable extent of land. 

Khurbet Saidy. — A small ruin on a mound, close to 
the Rukkad near its Jisr (bridge). There are traces 
of a building, probably an old khan. 

Sahem ej Jaulan. — A large village situated in the 
western part of Western Hauran, but for administra- 
tive purposes considered as belonging to Jaulan. The 
village is built in a better style than any of the 
other villages of Jaulan. Its houses, although many 
of them are abandoned and now in ruin, are built 
with stone, very few being the usual huts of mud 
generally met with, and the streets are wide and 
mostly straight. It is evident from the ornamenta- 
tion and character of the building-stones that we 
have here the relics of an ancient Christian com- 
munity. Among these the present generation has 
built itself habitations. The village at present con- 
tains about sixty or seventy inhabited houses, with 
a population of somewhere near 280 souls ; but 
double this number would scarce suffice to fill the 
dwellings that are now uninhabited and falling into 
ruin. The village, further, although situated in an 
apparently healthy country, on a rich soil, and 
plentifully supplied with water, is nevertheless 
decreasing in the number of its inhabitants. Vege- 
table gardens and orchards border the stream which 
runs to the west of the village in the Wady 



92 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



esh Shefeil, but they are now in miserable condition. 
The cause of this decay is to be sought in the fact 
of the villagers having pledged most of their farms 
and dwellings to usurers; and furthermore, having 
lost all hope of being able to redeem them, they 
have lapsed into a state of lethargy. They are apt to 
be sulky and hostile to foreigners. Such a state of 
affairs, when met with in this country, very generally 
has its origin in conditions similar to those above 
mentioned. The Fellahm and Bedawin of Hauran 
and Jaulan, if treated with justice and prudence, 
and with a due knowledge of their customs, 
are kindly and inoffensive; a little importunity in 
the matter of presents is always to be expected, 
and may be forgiven them for their poverty. 
In the present instance, however, I had great 
trouble in obtaining information about the place, 
and I was treated with such hostility, while copying 
some of the inscriptions and drawing the antiquities, 
that I was obliged to hurry over my work, and con- 
fine myself only to the most important objects. I was 
informed by the inhabitants that from their fore- 
fathers it was reported that this place, long ago, 
had been the * capital of Jaulan,' and the seat of 
government. This statement I had confirmed from 
other sources ; and remarking the extensive ruins, 
together with the size and general plan of the 
village, I feel inclined to believe that we have here 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



93 



the site of ancient Jaulan, the capital of Gaulanitis, 
the modern Jaulan. Its modern name, also, of Sahem 
ej Jaulan, in its latter half is not merely an addition 
to distinguish it from a second Sahem in the Jebel 
'Ajlun ; for there are frequent instances of names 
occurring twice over in this country, without the addi- 
tion of any epithet for their distinction. An argu- 



N 




Fig. 37. 

ment in support of this identification is to be found 
in the above-mentioned tradition of the natives, and 
in the fact that the place is still held to form part 
of Jaulan, although situated geographically within 
the limits of the present Hauran. The principal 
ancient remains in Sahem ej Jaulan are found in 
the northern quarter ; for the village is divided into 
three parts, which lie separate to a certain extent each 
from the other. Here there is a large building (Fig. 37), 



94 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



80 feet long and 32 feet wide, which is constructed of 
large stones of carefully hewn basalt, and has every 
appearance of having originally been a Crusading 
church. It is still well preserved. This building 
and three others form a square, and surround the 
sheikh's yard. They are all one storey high, and 
rectangular in plan, with flat roofs, and are at 



present occupied by the sheikh and his family. The 
northern and largest building (Fig. 37) contains three 
rooms, divided by walls which are over 2 feet thick, 
each room being 26 feet 5 inches long, and 23 feet 2 
inches wide inside, and about 18 feet high. The ceil- 
ing of each of the three rooms is supported by a round 
arch, the masonry of which is 3 feet 3 inches thick, and 
its span 19 feet. The arch piers of the centre room (M) 
project about 2 feet from the wall, and are crowned 






Fig. 38. 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



95 



with a moulded impost. The faces of the two lowest 
voussoirs of the arch to right and left are ornamented 
in bas-relief, as shown in Fig. 38. The building 
is covered with a flat roof constructed of long hewn 
slabs of basalt, the arrangement being illustrated in 



Interior of the Ancient Bualdino of the 
Sheikh at Sahem ej Jajulan 




Fig. 39. The roofing slabs have on them an 
ornamentation in the form of crescent moons and 
crosses, carved in bas-relief (Fig. 40) ; and on a 
stone in the angle formed by the junction of the 
northern and western wall, and hence pointing due 



96 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



north, is carved an arrow 3 feet long, which would 
apparently serve to indicate that point of the com- 
pass. The floor of these rooms is now covered with 
mud ; the walls, on which in some places crosses 




Fig. 40. 

were cut, are in most parts now hidden by a coating 
of clay, which in its turn is concealed by a layer of 
soot, and the building is at present in use as a stable. 




Fig. 41. — Bas-relief ornament on the lintel of a southern door 
of the sheikh's building at Sahem ej Jaulan. 

The main front faces the south, and into each 
room opens a rectangular doorway surmounted by 
great lintel stones of basalt. Over the doorway lead- 
ing into the middle room (M) is a square-headed 
arch, composed, including the key-stone, of three 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



97 



blocks ornamented as shown in Fig. 41. The door- 
ways leading into the side rooms have merely a 
cross on the lintel (Fig. 42). On either side of the 
doorway leading into each room are square windows, 
of small size, placed at a height of 14 feet above the 
ground. Their appearance in elevation and section 
is given in Figs. 44, 45. From the centre chamber 
(M) two doorways open into the room on the left. 
The centre room is the principal one of the building ; 
and in spite of there being no apse, must, I think, 
originally have served as the chapel. The hewn 



stones used in its walls are all of large dimensions, 
some reaching 7 feet in length by 2 feet in thickness 
and width. 

In the most western part of the south face of the 
building is an opening, intended to serve as a window. 
Its peculiar ornamentation is illustrated in Fig. 46. 

The gateway leading into the sheikh's yard is 
surmounted by a huge lintel, on which, in the middle, 
is cut a cross (Fig. 43). The other ancient build- 
ings which surround the sheikh's yard were, at the 




Fig. 42. 



Fig. 43. Fig. 44. 



Fig. 45. 



n 
/ 



98 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



time of my visit, occupied by the family, and I could 
not therefore explore them. 

In the south-east of the village stands a tower, 




Window in the Sheikhs Duelling at Sahem ej Janlan 
'« — . f" - ? 1 2 2 +feeu 

Fig. 46. 



called indifferently the jfdm'aah, or Medany ; it is 
about 50 feet high, and very similar to those which 
will be described later on in the sections relating to 



Mausoleum at Sakem_ej Jauian. 




Fig. 47. Fig. 48. 



Ed Dera'ah, Tuffas, and Nawa. A short distance 
outside the village, to the east, is an underground 
building, apparently a tomb. It measures 19 feet 10 
inches square, and is spanned by the remains of an 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



99 



arch. The walls have been almost entirely demolished 
by the natives, who have been hunting here for treasure 
(Fig. 47). A broken stone, bearing a portion of a 
Greek inscription (the only one discovered in Sahem 
ej Jaulan) was here dug out of the rubbish (Fig. 48). 

We left Sahem ej Jaulan after sun-down, and, 
guided by the rising moon, returned to our tents, 
along a broad road, entirely free from stones, skirt- 
ing the now deserted fields. Here the rich soil 
would prove an inexhaustible treasure in the hands 
of the Fellahin, would they but cease their treasure- 
hunting, and do more than impotently labour to, 
destroy what others have laboured to build. 

Tabanyah, — A ruin situated about a mile east of 
M'arri. There are here no remains except scattered 
stones, hewn and unhewn, which occupy a portion 
of the narrow shoulder and the upper slopes of the 
Rukkad. The considerable extent covered by these 
remains, and the fact that the whole slope is known 
by the name of ' Tabanyah? would seem to prove 
that the place was of importance in ancient times. 
The name is identical with that of the town on 
the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias ; and would lead to the 
inference that the spot marks the site of a Roman 
town. At the present day the industrious 'Arab el 
Menadireh have under cultivation all the ground in 
the vicinity of the ruins. 

Tell el Hdwy. — A small hill close to the junction 

7—2 



ioo EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



of the Shari'at el Menadireh and the Rukkad. It 
forms the extreme western projection of the Ras 
'Arkub er Rahwah (see above, p. 43). The hill is 
also known among the 'Arab el Menadireh by the 
name of Tell el Ferdawy. On the southern and 
western slopes of the hill are traces of an ancient 
wall of considerable strength, and on the hill itself, 
scattered about, were to be seen many well-squared 
building-stones. These show that the spot was in 
old times covered by habitations and possibly was 
fortified. 

Tell ej jfamtd. — A mound on the left bank of 
the Shari'at el Menadireh. On the summit stand 
what are apparently ancient walls ; they may have 
served either as a fortification or be the remains of 
a sacred circle. The stones used are rude and of 
large size. The Bedawin informed me that ' oil ' 
was occasionally seen welling out at the foot of the 
hill, and on festival days it was their habit, they said, 
to set this on fire, when the whole Tell covered by 
the 'oil' would blaze up. I cannot confirm this 
statement by my own observations, but possibly 
asphalte or bitumen might be found at this spot. 

Tell el Ehdeib.—(See Rds el Hal, p. 84.) 

TawdMn esh Sheikh Muhammed el 'Anazeh. — Two 
mills in the Wady 'Ain Dakkar, the property of the 
great Bedawin sheikh of the 'Anazeh. 

Tdhiinet el Ghazdleh. — A mill of primitive construe- 



EZ ZA WIYEH ESH SHURKIYEH. 



101 



tion, with a single stone, on the 'Allan, opposite Beit 
Akkar. A small canal, built of stone, conducts a 
stream of beautifully clear water to the mill. The 
Tahunet el Ghazaleh, as well as the two others 
near it, are the property of the people of Sahem ej 
Jaulan. 

Tahunet Jamleh. — A small mill turned by the power- 
ful waterfall of Wady Seisun. It is the property of 
the people of Jamleh. 

Tidh Beit Akkdr. — The cataracts and waterfalls of 
the 'Allan, which border on the south the ruins of 
Beit Akkar. 

Wady 'Uleika. — Dry in summer. Runs east of the 
'Arak el Heitaliyeh from 'Ajlun to the Shari'at el 
Menadireh. Unexplored. 

Wady Keleit. — A large wady of 'Ajlun, through 
which passes a small perennial stream, running into 
the Shari'at el Menadireh near the junction of the 
Rukkad. Unexplored. 

Wady esh Sha'eib. — Joins the Shari'at el Menadireh 
west of El Ekseir. Small and dry in summer. 

Wady el Ku'eilby. — A small perennial stream 
coming down from Hartah in 'Ajlun. It joins the 
Shari'at el Menadireh very near the Wady esh 
Sha'eib, and not far from some mills. Unex- 
plored. 

Wady el Mtighr. — A small perennial stream of 
clear water. It runs into the Rukkad to the west of 



io2 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



'Abdin. At its head there are some natural caves, 
occasionally occupied by poor Fellahin. 

Wddy Sha'eib el Hawwdr. — Dry in summer. It 
rises below 'Abdin, and runs along a north-westerly 
course to the Rukkad. 

Wddy ez Zeyyatin. — Rises at 'Ain Hamatah. It 
takes a southerly course as far as the Kum ez 
Zeyyatin, and thence bearing south-west, ultimately 
joins the Shari'at el Menadireh. It has a good 
perennial stream (see above, p. 10). 

Wddy Seisim, or Wddy 9 Ain Dakkar — Rises at 
'Ain Dakkar. The water of this spring is superior to 
that of any other in the country, being sweet, cool, 
and wholesome. The spring is built up with ancient 
masonry. The stream takes at first a south-easterly 
direction as far as the mills of the 'Anazeh sheikh, 
and is called Wady 'Ain Dakkar. Below this its 
course turns south-west, and continues with this 
direction down to its junction with the Rukkad, 
this portion being known under the name of Wady 
Seisun, from a ruin that is on its borders. A 
magnificent waterfall occurs about half a mile west 
of Seisun (see above, p. 15). 

Wddy el Ghdr. — A small muddy stream, nearly 
dry in summer, winding amongst the volcanic 
mounds f of a mile north-west of the Jisr el 'Allan 
(see Rasm el Haurah, p. 85). 



CHAPTER III. 



VILLAGES, RUINS, NAMES OF PLACES AND BEDAWIN 
TRIBES MET WITH IN THE DISTRICT OF WESTERN 
HAURAN. 

9 Arab el 'Anazeh. — The largest and most numerous 
Bedawin tribe met with throughout Hauran. The 
'Arab el 'Anazeh are divided into four branches : i. Er 
Ruwalleh ; 2. El Ibsheir (Bisheir) ; 3. Wulid 'Ali es 
Smeir; and 4. El Hassaneh. Of these the Wulid 
'Ali camp for the most part in Western Hauran and 
Eastern Jaulan, while the other clans occupy the 
Jebel 'Ajlun, a part of the Belkah and the Syrian 
Desert. Down to the close of the first half of the 
present century this great Arab tribe held all the 
country of Jaulan and Hauran, as well as part of 
'Ajlun, and while occupying themselves, for the most 
part, as highwaymen, were at the same time the 

* protectors ' of certain of the villages against other 
nomads, for which protection they received the 

* Khuweh,' or Brother-share, which took the form of 
a contribution of grain and flocks. A village so taxed 



104 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



was called the ' Ukht,' or sister, of the protecting 
tribe. This method of earning bread without labour 
was practised down to a very recent date. The de- 
serted villages now so frequently found in the midst 
of rich fertile lands owe their present desolation to 
the villagers not having been able to pay their 
' Khuweh ' regularly, and hence having been given 
over to plunder. The inhabitants, fearing further ill- 
treatment, have migrated, and settled together, many 
villages joining to form a single community (as at 
Esh Shejarah, Tsil, Tell esh Shehab, Nawa), where 
with greater effect they could resist attack. 

This ' Khuweh ' has come to an end, with the in- 
creased power of the central government, but the 
Fellahin are now being ruined by a slower but more 
certain method, which is the extortion practised 
by the usurers in the Syrian towns. 

The grazing-grounds of the Wulid 'Ali, the tribe 
with which I most often came in contact, are now 
limited to but a small portion of the lands they 
formerly occupied. The northern boundary of their 
pastures in Hauran is the Tell ej Jemu'ah, the 
battle-ground in old days of the Bedawin clans. The 
last battle fought here occurred, as I was told, under 
Sultan Mahmud, and its result was to give to the 
Wulid 'Ali the right of grazing their flocks up to this 
Tell. Should their privileges ever be infringed by 
any other tribe, t{ie Wulid 'Ali hoist a flag on the top 



WESTERN HA URAN. 



of the hill, and it is a signal of war, calling the 
' Aulad ' (the members of the tribe) to arms. I had 
practical experience of this matter, not at the Tell ej 
Jemu'ah, but in Northern Jaulan, where a like 
custom exists. On a hill, situated in the district of 
the 'Arab el Fuddel, I had occasion, during the 
survey, to set up a triangulation staff with a white 
and red flag. Almost immediately on its appear- 
ance armed men of the tribe gathered to the place, 
and I had great trouble in satisfactorily explaining 
to them the real object of my manoeuvre. 

In Eastern Jaulan, the Wulid 'Ali tribe do not go 
further north than 'Ain Dakkar, the limit of their 
grazing-grounds being, in fact, about two miles south 
of this place. In Western Hauran their neighbours on 
the north are the 'Arab en Nu'em, but on the south 
they are without rivals. The principal summer 
grazing-ground of the head sheikh and his family lies 
between the Tell es Semen and El Mezeirib, round 
Tell el Ash'ary. In the beginning of September, 
1884, I came on the tribe near the Jisr el Ehreir. 
Two days before, while calling on the Mutasarrif of 
the Hauran, who happened to be staying at El 
Mezeirib, I saw Muhammed ibn es Smeir, the head 
sheikh of the Wulid 'Ali. The respect with which 
he was treated by the Governor attracted my notice 
at the time, but I did not make his acquaintance 
until after returning to my camp, whither he fol- 



io6 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



lowed me, accompanied by a number of horsemen. 
These Bedawin all treated him with the greatest 
reverence, and the respectful way in which my 
Zaptiehs saluted him made me understand that I had 
to deal with a sheikh of some distinction. I invited 
him to enter the tent, and, after the usual compli- 
ments, he began by asking : 

' Do you know me, O Beij ?' (the title given by 
the Bedawin to townsmen — in Turkish, Bey). 

' No,' said I ; 1 but nevertheless welcome, and may 
Allah make us friends.' 

' So you do not know me ?' he repeated, as though 
struck by my ignorance. And then, turning full on 
me his face, which was quite patriarchal with the 
long white beard, and fixing on me a pair of eyes 
that in truth rivalled those of the gazelle in lustre, 
he said very quietly, ' You will hear ! Did you ever, 
perchance, hear of the victorious tribe of the 
'Anazeh ? the descendants of 'Ali es Smeir — may 
Allah have mercy upon him ! — and he of the noble 
family of the Kureish, the same of whom our great 
Prophet was a member ?' 

As my reply was now in the affirmative, he raised 
his head a little, and with a look of manly pride ex- 
claimed : 

'Then I, brother, am Muhammed ibn es Smeir, 
the sheikh of the Wulid 'Ali, which are of the 
'Anazeh.' 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



And one of his companions added in a whisper : 
1 Sultan el Barr ' (Lord of the Land). 
He very shortly became extremely confidential ; 
and after a long talk about politics, inquiring about 
the object of the survey and other matters, he invited 
me most cordially to come and see him in his tents. 
I went to return the visit a couple of days later, 
and came to a place near the Jisr el Ehreir, where 
was pitched the encampment of about five hundred 
black goat-hair tents : these were scattered over a 
rich pasturage, and looked from a distance very like 
a number of grazing cattle. The sheikh's tent was 
distinguished by its greater size, and round it were 
those of the members of his family, beyond which 
again were the tents of the remainder of the tribe. 
Before the tent-door his horses, thoroughbreds, were 
tethered. Muhammed es Smeir, on perceiving me, 
came out of the tent, and shook me by the hand, 
his welcome being the usual Bedawin salaam, 1 Gaw- 
wak!' (May Allah strengthen you !) ; and then, ' Not 
as a stranger you enter my house' (for they call 
their tents ' Buyut,' houses), 'but as a friend;' 
and with many ceremonial speeches he led me 
within. 

I now observed that he only used the left hand, 
and subsequently heard that his right had been 
lost in the recent war against the Druses of Jebel 
Hauran. He is a short, stout man of about fifty-five, 



io8 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



and speaks very slowly, accentuating the phrases 
of most import ; his face the while has an expres- 
sion of great earnestness, which, however, at times 
gives place to a smile. His appearance is sedate, 
and his bearing princely, but devoid of all arrogance 
of manner. On the present occasion he was dressed 
in a long silver-brocaded "Abba' (or cloak), under 
which he concealed his wounded arm ; a gold 
brocaded silk 'Kuffiyeh' (kerchief) was tied round 
his head, and Bedawin boots of yellow leather 
covered his feet. A saddle for cushion was placed 
under my elbow; and we sat in the tent, the floor 
of which was covered with Persian carpets. The 
whole tent was about 190 feet long and 30 feet 
wide, being divided into two sections by a screen of 
goat-hair ; the larger section, some 140 feet long, was 
for the guests, being used also as the general place 
of assembly of the tribe, while the second apartment 
was appropriated by the ' Harim' of the sheikh. 
The larger chamber was soon filled by the elders of 
the tribe, respectable-looking men, urbane in manner, 
who showed me every attention ; and in the course of 
the conversation which ensued, at my request, they 
described their life and occupations, from which the 
following account has been drawn up. 

In October of each year, before the first rains fall, 
the whole tribe leaves the country of Hauran for 
the Hamad, or Syrian Desert, which lies to the 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



109 



south. Here they proceed to gather the dates for 
the annual store ; for on this fruit they subsist 
almost entirely. This done, they migrate slowly 
into the 'Ajlun, grazing northwards, and arrive back 
in Hauran again, during the month of April or a 
little later. While in the desert they live to a 
certain extent on the produce of the chase, and they 
told me there was an abundance of gazelles, hares, 
and other game. They are much given to hawking, 
but do not tame their own hawks, preferring to buy 
them from the Arabs of the Lejjah. 

I noticed a fine bird sitting on the lap of the 
sheikh's youngest son, a boy of about twelve, and 
on my pointing to it, the sheikh observed, ' The 
hawk, when set free, rises in the air, and, perceiving 
his prey, swoops down on it, pecking at its eyes 
and holding it until the hunter comes up ; but this 
way of hunting we do not like ; we prefer rather to 
run down the gazelles with greyhounds, and shoot 
them with the gun. For therein is more pleasure ; 
and man should kill animals with the strength of 
his hand.' 

The Wulid 'Ali keep with them, during their 
migrations, herds numbering many thousands of 
camels ; but the goats and cattle are left behind in 
the Jaulan, in the care of those members of the tribe 
who are sedentary. The Wulid 'Ali possess, further, 
the best Arab breed of horses. As a rule they will 



no EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



not sell these, unless prices of £1,000 and more 
be offered ; and they prefer only to part with them in 
the form of presents. The foals are reared on camel's 
milk up to their third year, and the greatest care is 
bestowed on them ; after the third year they are fed 
on dates, and the best-bred mares never touch 
barley. On getting back to Hauran, the Wulid 'Ali 
cultivate some patches of ground, but they live for 
the most part on dates and milk, and have meat 
and bread only when guests are being entertained. 
The poorer classes of the tribe, in fact, may be said 
never to touch meat. 

The number of the tents of the Wulid 'Ali es 
Smeir, as I was assured by Sheikh Muhammed, 
amounts to 6,000, giving from 30,000 to 35,000 souls, 
and the whole tribe of the 'Anazeh, I was told, 
numbers over 300,000. The Sheikh Muhammed 
is the official guide of the Mecca pilgrims, from 
Damascus along the Haj road, through the desert 
to the territories of another chief of his tribe, Ibn 
Rashid, who thence onwards becomes answerable 
for their safety as far as Mecca. For his services 
the Turkish Government pays Sheikh Muhammed 
annually 300,000 piastres ; and by agreeing so to do, 
has put an end to the plundering which was formerly 
committed upon the Mecca pilgrims. He holds, 
therefore, a very influential position, and is a persona 
grata with the Government. He is allowed to pos- 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



in 



sess arms, and many an excellent rifle is to be found 
among his £ Aulad.' Further, he is the implacable 
enemy of the Druses, whose very name suffices to 
excite him to wrath. 

In this tribe, as, in truth, among all Bedawin, 
they calculate distances by lance-lengths, 'Tul 
Rumeh ;' the lance being considered to be about 
18 feet long. 

The family life of the Wulid 'Ali would seem to be 
patriarchal, and ruled by the promptings of natural 
affection. The sheikh asked me whether the ' Franji' 
girls were allowed to marry whom they pleased, or 
whether their husbands were found for them by 
their relatives. As I stated that liberty of choice 
was general among us, he turned towards the elders 
of the tribe, and remarked : 

* See, brothers ! they have the same customs as we 
have ;' and, turning to me, added, 1 Our daughters 
can choose as husbands whomsoever they like among 
the tribe.' 

This is proof that, among the 'Anazeh, the women 
still occupy a high social position, such as was the 
custom of the early days of Arab history, and it would 
seem to show that this tribe have maintained among 
them the manners of their ancestors. The hand- 
some, tall, and fair-skinned women of the Wulid 'Ali 
never perform the menial services which commonly 
fall to the lot of the women of other tribes ; and no 



ii2 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



women here ever offered us coffee or water, as con- 
stantly occurred among the Bedawin of the Jaulan. 
And although I would not vouch for the fact that 
all their females enjoy rights such as are allowed to 
the daughters of the sheikh and of his relations, I 
still believe that among the Wulid 'Ali a higher de- 
gree of civilization is to be found than among the 
other Arab tribes in the Jaulan. 

In all minor matters the sheikh gives judgment, 
and against his decisions there is seldom lodged an 
appeal. 

A case occurred while we were sitting in the tent. 
One of the Damascus merchants who visit the tribe, 
bringing for sale clothes, hardware, and provisions, 
such as coffee, sugar, salt, etc., came to the sheikh 
and made a claim against an Arab of the tribe, 
stating that the Bedawin had bought a mantle of him, 
and then changed his mind, and declined to pay 
for it. 

Muhammed es Smeir then and there sent for the 
accused, and said to him : 

' Ya ibni' (O my son), * speak ! have you, after buy- 
ing the mantle and agreeing with this merchant 
about the price, and after leaving his tent with it, 
come back again and then declared that you have 
changed your mind ?' 

' La Wallah !' (No, by Allah !), said the man ; ' I 
changed my mind while finally looking at the thing; 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



113 



then I stepped towards the opening of the tent, and 
under the door I gave my declaration.' 

1 Is it so ?' inquired the sheikh of the merchant, 
and he replied in the affirmative. ' Then,' said the 
sheikh to his clansman, ' I rule that you have to pay 
one beshly ' (beshlik, 3 piastres) ' as a fine to the 
merchant;' and, turning to the latter, he added, 'But 
you must take the mantle back, for the walad ' (liter- 
ally, boy) ' had decided not to purchase it. before he 
left the tent.' 

The two parties bowed and were content, for in all 
small matters the sheikh's authority is rarely contested 
among the tribe ; and in this case the elders sitting 
round approved the judgment by each exclaiming, 
' Eywah, hakk' (Yes, verily it is just). In the more 
important cases, however, the Turkish Government 
invariably interferes. 

The Bedawin are extremely fond of music, and 
the 'Anazeh have the reputation of being poetical ; 
but the only specimen of their musical compositions 
that I was able to commit to paper was the air of a 
song which is common among all the Bedawin of the 
Hauran. Walking in the caravan of camels, his 
mantle or sheepskin thrown over one shoulder, and 
an old musket or a huge stick carried on the other, 
the Bedawin is heard continually chanting the 
following monotonous song, the words of which are 
given below : 

8 



114 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 




Ya. ya - b a all y - eh, ah ! ya ha la leh, o - o - o - h !* 

To return, however, to the account of my visit. 
After some time the sheikh ordered in food, and 
promptly, on a large goatskin, appeared freshly-baked 
bread, as white as snow ; and in a huge copper 
dish, dates, which had been stewed in milk and then 
boiled in butter. First the sheikh took a piece of 
bread, rolled into it some dates, and proceeded to 
taste, a custom always observed among the Bedawin, 
and dictated by the desire to remove all suspicion from 
the mind of the guest. After this he invited us to 
partake of the dishes. These to our taste appeared 
rather sweet, but the food was extremely good of 
its kind, well cooked, and certainly very nutritious. 
After we had finished, the elders of the tribe soon 
disposed of what was left. Towards evening the 
assembly broke up, and we took our leave, the sheikh 
preceding us for a short distance. At parting, he 
gave me his hand, saying : 

° The notes marked ^ are to be struck more forcibly, with a 
• /""*\ 
sort of chromatic appoggiatura from below ; ' indicates a 

o s 

short pause. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



' M'a Salameh' (Go in peace). 'You have eaten 
bread and salt with me — our friendship shall last for 
ever ! Come to our lands, come to my tent, accom- 
pany us for a year through our home which is the 
desert. You will always be safe, for Muhammed es 
Smeir with his life guarantees yours. M'a Salameh !' 

As I left the tent of the sheikh the conviction was 
strong in my mind that here, truly, was a man who 
in natural nobility of character surpassed many 
nobles found in the society of a more advanced civi- 
lization. Muhammed es Smeir has no knowledge of 
writing or reading, but takes about with him a secre- 
tary who composes at his dictation. On making his 
acquaintance he said to me : ' Note my name, for we 
must become friends.' And when this was done, con- 
tinued : ' Now give me thine. Write it plainly on a 
piece of paper, both in thy language and in mine, that 
I may keep it as a remembrance.' I complied with 
his wish, and he then remarked : 6 Good ! this is the 
first name of a Franji I have wished to know, the first 
I shall bear in mind. I have already received many 
travellers in my tent ; but they come and go, and I for- 
get them, and they forget me.' Later in the day he 
said to me : ' The Emperor of Austria gave me high 
decorations, and I accompanied him down to the 
Great Sea. He also is my friend, and he invited me 
to come and visit him in his Belad ' (country). 'I 
should like much for you to accompany me to his 

8-2 



n6 'EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



residence there, to express my feelings to him even as 
I now express them to you. How many gold pieces 
would the journey cost ?' 

To all his questions I answered to the best of my 
ability, and warmly encouraged him to realize his 
proposed visit to Europe. 

In the behaviour of the sheikh to me there was no 
suspicion of covetousness or petty begging, so charac- 
teristic a trait among all the Bedawin met with 
throughout Western Palestine ; and although I had at 
the time in my hands a double-barrelled gun, which 
was much admired by his son, and other articles 
prized among the Bedawin, he never even indirectly 
expressed any desire to possess them. 

I should add that the sheikh had been informed 
by the Governor of Hauran that I was surveying the 
country, with special permission of the Government, 
in order to find the best line along which a railway 
might be laid between Haifa and Damascus. This 
may have influenced his conduct ; but, on the other 
hand, it might have been expected that he, who well 
knew that such a work must eventually deprive him 
of his grazing-grounds, would have tried to obstruct 
the matter as much as possible. The question was 
of course discussed, but his remark to me was this : 

' I see well that with the great iron road we can- 
not remain long in Hauran; but we know that this 
country is not for ever to be ours, for we have 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



117 



heard how the descendants of those, whose bones lie 
under the ruins of this land, are to come back and 
rebuild once more its cities, even as they were in the 
times of their forefathers ;' and then after a pause he 
added, * But we will retire to the 'Ajlun, where there 
is place yet enough for our tribe. Allah yebarik 1' 
(May Allah's blessing be on it !) 

The Bedawin show a great partiality for all strong 
odours, and it is curious to note that they employ as 
their favourite perfume the droppings of gazelles, 
which they pick up and carry in their pockets. I 
am bound to acknowledge also that an Arab thus per- 
fumed is in truth more fragrant than he would be in 
his natural condition. When, however, as a special 
compliment to a guest, a handful of these contents 
of the pocket is suddenly thrust under the nose of 
the inexperienced European, the latter is apt to feel 
that this mark of Bedawin politeness is of a nature 
that would preferably be dispensed with. 

'Amrdwah. — A village, the houses of which are 
built of mud and stone. It is as large as Jamleh ; at 
present unexplored. It is in South-Western Hauran. 

'Ain el Malldhah. — Two springs in the Wady Zeidy, 
lying to the north of Ed Dera'ah. The water is 
brackish, and is only used for giving to camels and 
mules. There are two broken sarcophagi lying near 
the more eastern spring of the two, which are now 
used as water-troughs. The supply is not very 



n8 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



plentiful ; at the watering of the herds there are con- 
tinual quarrels and much shouting among the camel- 
drivers who come down to the spring, hence for 
a philologist it would be an excellent place in which 
to collect the amenities of Arab parlance. 

^Ain et Tawileh is another spring situated south of 
Ed Dera'ah, giving excellent water with a plentiful 
supply. 

El 'Amunyeh. — The name of a considerable pile of 
ruins lying close to the southern borders of the Wady 
el Ehreir. There are traces of buildings, and all 
around are large weather-worn building-stones. 

El 'Ajamy. — A miserable village on the southern 
borders of the Ehreir. It contains some thirty partly 
abandoned huts, built of mud and stone. On the east 
stands a well-arched gate of modern masonry, which 
was formerly the entrance to the sheikh's yard. There 
are now but twelve of the houses inhabited, and 
the miserable-looking population, amounting to 
about thirty souls in all, are a pitiful sight. The 
place was very flourishing during the times of the 
Sheikh el 'Ajamy, a Muhammedan saint, much re- 
spected in the country round. To the west of the 
village is his tomb or makam, a rectangular building 
of modern construction, very dirty, which is covered 
with a collection of coloured rags, fastened with sticks 
into the wall by those who come here to seek a cure 
for their maladies. The place is surrounded by a 



WESTERN EIAURAN. 



miserable garden, on the produce of which the few 
inhabitants and the warden of the makam live. It is 
watered by a muddy stream running through the 
Wddy el 'Ajamy, which rises immediately south of the 
village, in the marsh called Bahrct el 'Ajamy. This 
brackish and unwholesome swamp, being the only 
source from which the inhabitants can obtain drinking 
water, is without doubt the cause of their sickly con- 
dition. I was told that the people often died of fever 
in the autumn, and that children, it was found, could 
not stand the climate. During the worst seasons the 
people migrate to other settlements. The remains 
of ruins are scanty in the village, but in the neigh- 
bourhood we found scattered about many ancient 
stones. The name of the village is modern, hardly 
older than the present century. 

9 Ain en NUeh. — A good spring, of moderate supply, 
at the Khurbet en Nileh. 

9 Ain el Lubwah. — An abundant spring, which 
gives a perennial stream of water at Deir el Lubwah. 
Below, it runs through the Wady el Lubwah. 

9 Arab en Nu 9 em. — A large Bedawin tribe, whose 
grazing-grounds lie to the north of those of the 
'Anazeh. 

9 Adwdn. — A moderate-sized village, tolerably well 
built of stone and mud, situated on a low elevation, 
west of Sheikh Sa'ad. It contains about 40 huts, 
with a population of about 140 souls. There are 



i2o EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



near it some ruins. Its present name is modern, 
and is derived from the 'Adwan Bedawin, who 
formerly occupied this part of the country. 

'Am er Rumashtah. — An ancient tank, surrounded 
by excellent masonry, 40 feet square and 14 feet 
deep, counting from the level of the water. It is 
situated in the centre of Nawa. From it the in- 
habitants of Nawa for the most part get their drink- 
ing water ; but it is very dirty, for, being open, it is 
often used as a bathing-place. Still the taste of the 
water is not bad, except for a slight flavour. The 
water is obtained with pails or jars let down with a 
rope. I was told that the birket is supplied by 
a subterranean spring, probably through a canal ; 
and the statement is likely to be true, for the large 
amount of water found here in September could not 
have been merely that left by the rains. 

Bahret el Bajjeh. — The lake of El Mezeirib, de- 
scribed above— see Wady el Bajjeh (p. 27). 

Bahret Zeizun is formed by the stream of the 
Moyet Zeizun, and divides the village of Zeizun into 
its two quarters. 

Bahret el 'Ajamy. — The marsh at El 'Ajamy. 

Bahret el Ash'ary. — A marsh near Tell el Ash'ary. 
See below. 

Bendak. — The site of an anciently inhabited place 
on the Wady el Bajjeh. The remains consist of 
scattered stones. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



121 



Bintuh. — A deserted village near Tsil, with some 
remains of ruins. 

Ed Dera'ah. — This is the chief town and the seat 
of government of the Kaimakamiyeh. It consists 
of stone houses and mud huts ; but there are 
very few good buildings to be seen, the Serayah 
and the house of Sheikh Naif being the best. A 
new Government building was, however, just being 
commenced, which will be superior in size to any at 
present there. Ed Dera'ah is the largest town in 
this district, and, I believe, the largest in Hauran. 
According to the statements of the Government 
officials there, it contains over 3,000 adult males ; 
and, though my personal observations would hardly 
let me vouch for this high figure, I should judge that 
a total population of 4,000 to 5,000 souls would not 
be an exaggerated estimate. Nevertheless, it is a 
miserable-looking place, very muddy in wet weather, 
and so dirty and dusty in summer that the eyes suffer 
while walking through the streets. These are for 
the most part wide. The mud and dust come from 
the great mounds of ashes which are piled up 
outside the houses. Everywhere are the ruins of 
ancient buildings and modern huts which have been 
abandoned, and are now fallen to decay. The build- 
ing-stones used are, without exception, ancient, and 
the elevated site of the present city is entirely due to 
the debris of ancient buildings on which it stands. In 



122 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



ancient times it must have occupied a lower level, as 
is shown by the position of the ruins. The Suk or 
market is poor ; there are no regular stores — merely 
some few mud huts, and the canvas tents of the 
Damascus merchants who sell provisions and vege- 
tables. 

The village consists of two quarters. The main 
portion is built on a flat piece of ground, enclosed 
on the east and west by the dry Wady Zeidy, and on 
the south by a valley, formed by a spur of the 
Zumleh Hills. On the north it is separated by a sort 
of depression from Karah, the other portion of the 
city, which is situated on a round hill, and stands a 
little higher than the main village. The road from 
El Mezeirib passes along a narrow neck due north 
of the town. 

Coming from El Mezeirib by way of El Yedudeh, 
the road runs through a fertile and well-cultivated 
plain, where the regularity of the patches into which 
the plain is divided does not fail to strike the eye. 
Furrows of a mile and more in length run from 
north to south in lines which are admirably straight ; 
and hardly any stones are to be seen on the reddish- 
brown soil, formed by decomposed volcanic ashes, 
which feels, when rubbed between the fingers, very 
like sand. The whole country round is most fertile. 

Traversing the plain, the road rises gradually, 
and about 2 miles north of Ed Dera'ah passes the 



WESTERN HA URAN. 



123 



summit of a range of low hills. From this point, 
Ed Dera'ah appears in view as a collection of low, 
squalid-looking huts, among which rises the Medany, 
a high tower, of ancient masonry. An arm of the 
Wady Zeidy is first crossed, and then we arrive at 
the Kandt Fara'un. This is an ancient aqueduct, 
with a water-tower standing a little off it to the north. 
It originally went as far as Dilly, a place on the Haj 
road to Damascus, in the Wady el Ehreir, from 
whence the water was brought to Ed Dera'ah. But 
the aqueduct is now in ruins, and carries no water ; 
the village consequently is very badly off for its 
supply, the inhabitants having now to go to the two 
springs of 'Ain el Mallahah in the W ady Zeidy. These, 
however, are brackish and of very moderate yield ; and 
the 'Ain et Tawileh, to the south of the village, 
which they also use, although plentiful, is hardly 
enough so to supply the whole population. The 
aqueduct originally crossed the Wady Zeidy by a 
stone bridge of five semicircular arches, which have 
a span of 16 feet 6 inches, and are about 15 feet 
from the crown to the ground below. The total, 
length of the bridge is 165 feet, and its width 17 
feet 6 inches. It originally carried a paved road 
13 feet 2 inches wide, running on the west side, 
for foot-passengers ; while the actual aqueduct, on 
the east side, was elevated 4 feet 9 inches above 
the roadway, and was 4 feet 4 inches wide. Here 



124 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



cylindrical pipes of pottery were laid in white mortar. 
Up-stream, the bridge-piers have pointed starlings. 



Tfanat- Fara'uii at E d D er'aak 




Fig. 49. 



The bridge is only partially ruined, and is used by 
passengers for crossing the Wady Zeidy, although this 
last is dry in summer. The construction is of a later 
date than are the building-stones used in it. These 
have been originally hewn with great care, and are 
of considerable size, being 3 and 4 feet long, 1 foot 
5 inches and 2 feet high. On them are some 
inscriptions, now found upside down in the interior 
of the arches (as, for instance, at the point marked 
A in Fig. 49), but which are for the most part so 
weatherworn that no complete specimen could be 
copied. The characters are apparently Greek and 
Arabic, and many are marked with crosses (Fig. 50). 
The monogram | N often occurs (possibly 1 Jesus 
Nazarenus'). Stones with mouldings, having an 
appearance of dating from Roman times, are also 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



125 



built into the walls. So little skill, however, is 
shown in the construction that I am inclined to 

Anciejtt Stones on the 
K anat Faraun.(A..) 



Fig. 50. 

believe the bridge to be, comparatively speaking, 
modern, the building stones alone dating from the 
early Christian era. A little east of the bridge, on 




Fig. 51. 

the southern bank of the Wady Zeidy, is a tank, the 
sides of which have been faced with squared stones 
(Fig. 51). It is 65 yards long and about 60 yards 
wide, and still 7 feet deep, though its bottom is 



126 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



covered with rubbish and mud, and its sides are now 
ruined. The tank is situated in a natural depres- 
sion of the ground, and a bank separates it from 
the wady ; it must, therefore, have been fed by a side 
channel from the aqueduct. About 100 yards south- 
east of this tank is an opening which leads into 
the caves, to be described further on, but which at 
present is entirely blocked up with straw. The 
banks of the Wady Zeidy, near Ed Dera'ah, consist 
of a very soft limestone ; they are full of natural 
caverns, and more especially is this the case with the 
hill on which Karak is built. They are used as 
shelter for the herds, and as store-places for straw 
and other provisions. The aqueduct, after cross- 
ing the wady, leads south over a narrow neck east 
of Karak and thence to the city, originally supplying 
here a large basin 130 yards long and 90 yards wide, 
with a depth averaging 25 feet, and well lined with 
masonry. On the western side of this tank, or birket, 
stands the Hummdm Sikndny (Fig. 52), a ruined, 
spherically-vaulted building, evidently an ancient 
Roman bath, as is proved by the construction and 
the pipes which conducted the water from the 
roof of the building into the interior. The masonry 
is good and laid in white mortar ; the surrounding 
walls are 20 feet high. A part of the building is now 
occupied by Fellahin, who have made a hut in one 
of the niches. These men informed me that a short 



WESTERN HA URAN. 



127 



time ago the building was in perfect preservation, 
and the interior arrangements were those which they 
remembered to have seen at the Hammams of Acca, 
to which city they now and then bring their grain. 
To the east of this Hammam is a well-built chamber 
in good preservation, the roof of which is on a level 
with the surrounding ground and the floor of the 
Hammam, while its walls are in part those of the 
ancient water-basin. The entrance to this chamber, 
which is called by the name Sikndny, and is said 




Fig. 52. 



by the natives to have been a mausoleum, is from the 
south side of the basin (see plan). By getting down 
on to the manure and rubbish which covers the whole 
of the bottom of the tank — for the spot at present 
serves as a place into which they shoot ashes and all 
sorts of refuse — this entrance could be reached and 
the interior explored, were it not for a gigantic 
heap which has been placed here probably with the 



128 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



express view of blocking this entry, and which it would 
take days of labour to remove. Near this straw heap 
are many natural caves opening towards the bottom 
of the basin, but they were too low to permit of our 
making any exploration of them. From them, pos- 
sibly, there is a communication through to the mauso- 
leum. The Fellahin, as usual, state that great treasures 
are hid in this underground place, but they have 
never explored it, and it would form an interesting 
object for the investigation of some future traveller. 
As the door of the mausoleum must, at the time when 
the basin was yet supplied with water, have been 
submerged, we may conclude that it dates from an 
earlier age than do the aqueduct and the basin, and 
probably, like the Hammam, is of Roman construc- 
tion. Both Hammam and mausoleum are situated 
on the level ground between the cit} r and Karak, 
but are separated from the latter by a depression in 
the ground. 

Continuing along the high road, after passing some 
considerable heaps of manure and ashes, we enter the 
village proper of Ed Dera'ah, and arrive at the 
Medany, the jfdm'aah, and the Keniseh, which are 
ruins all standing near together. The Kenheh (church) 
lies to the south. It is now a total ruin, about 40 
yards long. The walls, standing 8 feet high, still show 
the circular apse which was at its southern extremity. 
The capitals, columns, and hewn stones which were 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



129 



used in its construction were doubtless originally 
brought from a building called the Jam'aah, a more 
modern edifice which adjoins the Keniseh on the 
north. 

This Jama'ah is still used as a mosque, and was 

The Mosque or Ej Jam'aah in the Northern part 
of Ed Der'aah. 

7- 60' >, 




recently restored by the Waly of Syria on the occasion 
of a visit to Ed Dera'ah. No part of the edifice can 
be very old. Roman mouldings are built into its 
walls upside down, and blocks bearing Greek and 
Arabic inscriptions have been set in positions for 
which they were never originally intended. Along 
the foot of the western wall, stones are laid to form a 

9 



130 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



terrace of steps ; but as there is no sign of there 
having ever been an entrance here, these steps must 
have been designed to serve in some way as a 
strengthening buttress for that portion of the wall 
where it faces the main street. The present entrance 
is to the left of the steps, and leads, as is usual in 
mosques, directly into the courtyard. The JanCaah 
itself contains forty-seven columns, placed in rows, 
three, four, and five together, occupying a rectangular 
chamber 197 feet long and 60 feet broad. The 
columns support round arches which spring from 
a variety of Corinthian and Ionic capitals, set on the 




Fig. 54. 



columns without any regard for symmetry; and 
there are no bases. The columns themselves are only 
4 feet 4 inches high ; the space from the crown of 
the arch to the paved floor being 10 feet 10 inches. 
The arrangement, therefore, of the interior presents 
an appearance at once crowded and stunted, and it 
has no pretension to architectural style. With the 
exception of two of the columns, which are of white 
marble, all are of basalt ; and all but one, which 
is shown in Fig. 54, are smooth. From the Jam'aah 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



131 



two entrances on the north lead directly into the 
paved court, while a third, also to the north, opens 
into the arched colonnade which surrounds this 
court on its northern, eastern, and western sides. 
The colonnade, supported by a double row of 
pillars, thirty-eight in number, resembles those in the 
Jam'aah. These also have been recently restored. 
On the walls of the court are several Arab inscrip- 
tions, and the following two in Greek I noticed on 
stones built in, as usual, upside down (Fig.' 55) : 




In the northern part of the court there lies a sarco- 
phagus, 7 feet 6 inches long, bearing on one of its 
longer sides three roughly carved objects in high re- 
lief. These, at the present day, are much worn, but 
bear some resemblance to lions' heads. 

From the north-west corner of the court a partly 
ruined door leads into the Medany (minaret), which 
rises to the north of the Jam'aah, This Medany is 
a rectangular tower, built of basalt without mortar, 
and has a height of about 60 feet (Fig. 56). Its 

9—2 



132 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



lower portion consists of a stylobate 12 feet 6 inches 
square, ornamented with simple mouldings, with 
an opening on the one side. Above this rises the 
actual tower, which has the shape of a truncated 
pyramid, the summit being surrounded by a cornice, 
which projects several feet, and is supported by 
corbels. In the middle of each of the four walls of 
the tower are large rectangular openings, now much 



th« Medany at EiDeraak 




Fig. 56. 



broken away, and above each of these again are two 
small round-arched windows. The interior of the 
tower is hollow, but now filled, up to a considerable 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



133 



height, with rubbish. Such towers as this, built in the 
form of a truncated pyramid, with projecting cornice, 
are not uncommon in Hauran. They are generally 
raised on cube-shaped bases, and taper upwards, 
but sometimes they have the form of a simple trun- 
cated pyramid without any pedestal, as in the one 
mentioned in the description of Sahem ej Jaulan 
(p. 98). There is usually one opening in the lower 
part, and above, in the tower, one or two windows, 
rectangular or conical in shape, surmounted by 
round or pointed arches. Some towers are plain, 
without mouldings or cornices (see below, under 
Tuffas), and occasionally the pedestal consists of 
rows of low columns supporting the upper tower 
(see under Tsil). Whether these originally were 
church-towers or mosque-minarets it is not easy 
now to decide. It seems evident, however, that 
they are not of Roman origin ; and on the other 
hand they are always found by the side of a building 
devoted to religious purposes. They do not, how- 
ever, form part of the general plan of the church 
or mosque, but are built on the opposite side of the 
courtyard to the main edifice. The fragments of 
Roman ornamentation and mouldings which are 
placed in the walls of these towers without order 
or method, would seem to prove that they have 
been built, or at any rate rebuilt, since the time 
of the Muhammedan occupation, for the purpose of 



i 3 4 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



minarets. The Medany of Ed Dera'ah is one of 
the best preserved specimens found in the Hauran; 
but its cornice-slabs, and the stones forming the flat 
roof, are already loose and in a dangerous condition. 

To the south of the Jam'aah, after passing along 
dusty streets, heaped with rubbish, and between 
ruined huts and modern carelessly built dwellings, 



\A 



YTT EPCWTH RfAtKEN IKHCT0YKYPI0Y1 JlVVNAYTCKf&TOPOC H> | 
TAAl H N OYCEBEKTI C e HTOT i x o C£r& N PEA CToYCEB . TTPO« OlAC 
TATIAIOYA JKmANOYTOYKPATICTOYAETlSNTOCTI NHCrE IONIAN 
E+ECTWTOaaY. lClAWPOYETpAT0?0lY4>Hr. OYHpOYAPxirE 
KT0N0OT POEA . Jk . ATNQYBACCOYETriEKOTTHAIAICV'BACC 



OYKEZHNOAWpOYTAYPINOYKECABiNOYECEJlCANO^Y 




Fig. 57. 

we come to the Serayah, or Government Office. 
This is a modern stone house, well-built, of two 
stories, in the courtyard of which are some Roman 
mouldings ; and also a stone bearing a long Greek 
inscription, which the Kaimakam informed me had 
been recently discovered and brought here from the 
yard of the house of Sheikh Naif, who is the head of 
an old and influential family in Ed Dera'ah (Fig. 57) 
The stone on which this inscription is found is 



WESTERN NAUR AN. 



35 



about to be used as a lintel, to be set over the 
door of the new Serayah, a building just com- 
menced alongside of the older edifice. 

Sheikh Naif was now sent for to conduct us through 
the curious underground city of Ed Dera'ah, first dis- 
covered and partially described by Consul Wetzstein 
(see his ' Reisebericht iiber den Hauran und die 
Trachonen,' Berlin, i860), but which apparently has 
not been since visited or explored by any other 
traveller. The entrance of this underground city lies 



at the extreme east of Ed Dera'ah, near the border 
of the Wady Zeidy, and a little to the east of the 
Serayah. There is a small court, 26 feet long and 
8 feet 3 inches wide, with steps leading down into it, 
which has been built as an approach to the actual 
entrance of the caves ; and lying about here are 
several large basalt slabs, one of them 13 feet long, 
2 feet 4 inches wide, and 1 foot thick, with a groove 
in it for the stone gate (Fig. 58), also several mould- 
ings (Fig. 59), and part of the spring of an arch, with 




Fig. 58. 



Fig. 59. 



136 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



a Greek inscription cut on the frieze, some words 
of which can still be read (Fig. 60). These remains 
seem to point to there having stood here an arched 
gateway leading to the entrance of the subterranean 
city. The court is surrounded by walls built of 
stones without mortar. To the south of it, judging 
from the remains of a wall, a large building must 



have stood (Fig. 61). On the north side a few easy 
steps lead down to the yard, which is at present 
covered with mud and rubbish, and lies about 
11 feet below the surface of the ground. We now 




life, ■'lI'-Nl ^i'illllU i 

\ ■zr-rr. 1 * 



Fig. 60. 




Fig. 61. 



observed on the right an arched entrance, 3 feet 
6 inches wide, just high enough for a man to crawl 
through on hands and knees, and after tying the 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



137 



end of a ball of string to a stone at the entrance (a 
precautionary measure that should on no account 
be neglected by any future explorer), we lighted our 
candles and proceeded to crawl through this opening 

(a) and along a low, muddy corridor (b) (see plan of 
the underground city, Fig. 62). 

This passage is 20 feet long and 4 feet wide, and 
sloping down, leads west into a rectangular room 
(c) 33 feet by 23, which is shut off from the corridor 

(b) by a stone door set in a frame of the same 
material. This door is 4 feet 4 inches broad, 3 feet 
3 inches high, and 5 J inches thick, and still turns on 
its hinges (see Fig. 63). The underground city 




Fig. 63. 



was thus shut off and guarded from the outside 
world. Some of the Government officials who had 
proposed to accompany me, were here beset with 
terrors, and went out again, but the Kaimakam's 
son and several officers remained. The first room 
(c) is evidently an artificial cavern, and its walls 
and ceiling show remains of ancient plaster-work, 



138 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



but the mortar mixed with coarse sand used in its 
composition is now disintegrating rapidly and falling 
away. 

Nowhere was any ornamentation to be discovered. 
The natural roof is formed of thin layers of flint 
stones, alternating with the crumbling, soft, white 
limestone, which is the rock in which the under- 
ground city has been burrowed. Owing to the 
dampness of the surface soil and the manure-heaps 




Fig. 64. 



piled up thereon, nitrates, in the water percolating 
through, decompose the limestone, and it falls in. 
In some parts of the great caves great masses of 
flint and stone are constantly coming down. This 
is a source of considerable danger, and the heap of 
rubbish already piled up in the western part of 
chamber c is thus being constantly added to. The 
superincumbent mass has often been met by erecting 
columns 10 feet or less high, and from 1 foot 8 inches 
to 1 foot 5 inches in diameter, each of which carries 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



139 



a sort of abacus in the form of a slab of basalt, and this 
supports the ceiling (Fig. 64). Such columns must 
have been added long after the first construction 
of the caves, probably in Roman times, since the 
mouldings are Roman in character ; for it seems 
probable that these underground cities are the work 
of the earliest inhabitants of Hauran, the so-called 
' Giants ' of Scripture. Natural supports to the 
ceiling, hewn from the living rock, at the period 
of the first construction of the cave, are also found. 
They are of a curious and original character, but 
are now in process of rapid disintegration, and 
soon will fail to serve the purpose for which they 
were designed. 




Fig. 65. 

To the south of the room c mangers have been 
constructed in the masonry of the wall. The aper- 
tures are 2 feet wide, and 1 foot 6 inches high, 
divided each from the other by single stones (Fig. 65). 
Here and there also in the walls at a height of 5 
and 6 feet from the floor, are circular holes, 6 to 8 
inches in diameter, which were most likely used 
for lamps (Fig. 66). The present average height of 



140 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 

this chamber of the underground city is from 12 to 10 
feet, and less; but it must originally have been 
more lofty. The floor is damp, and in the passages 
where manure from above has fallen down through 
the air-holes, the smell is extremely disagreeable ; 
however, there is still a sufficient quantity of fresh 
air in most of the chambers for breathing purposes. 
The room c, and the next, are used by Sheikh Naif, who 
claims to be proprietor of part of the subterranean 
Dera'ah, as a store-place for straw and as a shelter 
for his flocks ; but as the entrance at a is getting 
more and more choked up with rubbish, the animals 
are now seldom brought in. From the room c, 
which seems to have been at one time faced with 




Fig. 66. 



masonry, a short narrow passage d through the 
western wall, barely 2 feet wide, leads into a second 
large room e, of rectangular shape, and of about the 
same size as c. Here columns of basalt support the 
ceiling, and there are mangers not unlike those in c, 
while two apertures in the ceiling, for air, lead up to 
the surface of the ground. These holes are 2 feet 
square, and the shaft is lined with stones. After 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



141 



about 20 feet they come out on the ground above, 
where round each aperture is a ruined wall, which 
suggests the notion that these air-holes were 
originally protected by buildings, since naturally 
life in this underground city would entirely depend 
upon these air-holes being kept clear. The floor of 
the room e is covered with rubbish, hewn and un- 
hewn stones, fragments of columns, with mould- 
ings similar to those in c, and much manure fallen 
down through the air-holes. From the western part 
of e is a passage communicating with another room 
/, which in plan has the form of a cross ; for there 
are alcoves each about 9 feet square leading out of 
four sides of the central room, which measures 17 feet 
square. The floor of these recesses is a little 
raised above that of the central part. Wetzstein 
supposes that such recesses were used for storage 
purposes. 

Leaving the room /, we immediately pass to a 
smaller square-shaped chamber g, the ceiling of 
which is supported in the centre by a column. In 
the wall opposite the entrance coming from /, 
about 2 feet above the floor, there is a recess h 
worked in the rock, at the bottom of which are 
scooped out a row of troughs, 2 and 3 feet long, 
1 foot 5 inches wide, and about a foot deep. The 
ceiling of h is equal in height to that of the main 
room g. These troughs are hardly large enough 



142 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



to be loculi under an arcosolium, and more probably 
have been merely store-places for grain. 

On the south an air-hole supplies the room with 
ventilation, but is now stopped above. Just under it 
a low and narrow passage, some 20 feet long, leads 
into the chamber i, 14 feet square, cut out in the soft 
limestone rock, and from its ceiling an air-hole leads 
up to the surface. On the south of chamber i a 
rectangular room, 14 feet by n, has been formed, 
separated from it by a rock wall ; a square doorway 
forms the communication between the two chambers. 
Through the western wall of room i we crawled 
on our hands and knees along a passage sloping 
slightly downwards and turning at the end sharp to 
the left, which is barely 2 feet high and 1 foot 6 inches 




Fig. 67. 

wide. After following this along 165 feet, and becom- 
ing much exhausted by the constrained position and 
the want of air, we finally arrived at a chamber k, 18 
feet square. On the left of the entrance an air-hole, 
partly filled up with rubbish and manure, about 2 
feet 4 inches square, and built up with masonry like 
the rest, goes up through the ceiling to the surface 
of the earth, through a distance measuring certainly 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



43 



not less than 50 feet. In the middle of the floor of 
the room is a cistern, with a circular opening about a 
yard across, and bottle-shaped within (Fig. 67), now 
partly filled up with mud, but still over 12 feet deep. 
Going on through the side opposite to the air-hole, 
down four steps, we came to an irregular-shaped 
room, begun, but apparently never completed ; and 
after passing this, turned to the left, through an ex- 
tremely low and narrow passage sloping downwards 
again for about 30 feet, and entered the chamber /, 
which is the largest of any we found, measuring 
33 feet square and 10 feet high. In the wall near the 
entrance an alcove has been scooped, and in the 
western wall are circular holes 6 inches in diameter, 
probably intended, like those in chamber c, to receive 
oil-lamps. In the floor near the entrance, there 
is a cistern very similar to that found in chamber k, 
and to the east, above it, an air-hole in the ceiling 
goes up, through about 60 feet, to the surface of the 
ground, but is now partly filled in with mud and 
rubbish. 

Down to the point to which we had now pene- 
trated, there had been, in the chambers, a tolerably 
good supply of air, but the passages always having 
a downward slope,' the chambers, as we went on, 
were each found to be on a lower level, so that in 
this last one, /, we found ourselves at a depth of about 
70 feet below the surface. The air here, after some 



144 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



moments, became so bad that it was only by 
strong persuasion that I could keep my guide with 
me. He had long since wished to go back and de- 
clared that no earthly being had ever penetrated before 
as far as this. Many of the Government officials 
had retired some time before this, and those who 
had accompanied me were now nearly frightened to 
death by a roaring noise which proceeded from the 
cistern in chamber /, and resembled the cry of a 
wild-cat ; but, being unarmed, they were afraid of 
returning alone. In spite of their earnest entreaties, 
I, however, determined to make an effort at forcing 
my way through the farther passage. It was of the 
exact size of my body, but I managed to crawl for 
over 80 feet along the smooth, slightly-rising tunnel ; 
at this point it turned sharp to the right, and at a 
right angle, and became so narrow that I actually 
stuck, and the atmosphere being now insupportable, 
I had promptly to retire. 

In this passage I found human bones (no skull) in 
great quantities, well preserved, and of the ordinary 
size. These lay scattered about in no particular 
order, and therefore, I imagine, had been brought 
here by wild beasts. There were also some bones 
of the camel. The return journey from chamber 
I was not less trying than had been the advance ; 
and the Kaimakam's son, a young lieutenant, who 
had followed me a short distance into the last pas- 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



145 



sage, and had seen the human bones, now so 
alarmed the others by his report that they all began 
to lose their heads, and rushed helter-skelter for the 
upper entrance. This fortunately was easily reached 
by means of the clue afforded by the end of the ball 
of string which we had kept with us. 

It may be well to warn future explorers to keep a 
sharp look-out for the cisterns in the floors of the 
chambers : these are dangerous traps, and if not 
observed are likely enough to lead to a disaster. 
I was assured by the Sheikh Naif, and by many 
others, that this underground city extends below the 
whole of Ed Dera'ah, and that there are several 
other openings into it, now for the most part filled 
in with rubbish. Many of the chambers we ex- 
plored will doubtless before long be choked by the 
mud falling down through the air-holes. I may 
mention that I feel convinced that the part we visited 
was not the same as that described by Consul Wetz- 
stein, for it differs in many points from the descrip- 
tion of what he saw. 

This remarkable subterranean city was presumably 
hollowed out to receive the population of the upper 
town in times of danger ; and the people were thus 
prepared to stand a siege on the part of the enemy 
for as long as their magazines were filled with food, 
their stables with cattle, and the cisterns with water. 
If, however, the enemy had found out how to cut off 

10 



146 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



their supply of air, by covering up the air-holes, the 
besieged would without doubt forthwith have been 
compelled to surrender or perish. 

I believe that the last chamber I visited, namely 
/, lies at the maximum depth of the underground 
city, for the passage partly explored, leading from it, 
no longer slopes downwards, but has a level bottom 
with some short ascents. The city had thus its 
lowest level at a point about 70 feet below the 
surface of the earth, and from this point its chambers 
and streets rose towards the various exits. Had I 



Ml,"!, 



Fig. 68. 

been able to go on, down the last passage, some 
distance further, I must eventually have arrived at 
the brink of the Wady Zeidy, along the banks of 
which the part of the underground city I explored 
has been excavated. 

In a northern direction from the entrance at a, 
and along the Wady Zeidy, are the remains of an 
ancient city waU ; and here over a modern gateway 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



147 



is a stone bearing a partly effaced Arabic inscription, 
with the date 770 a.h., or about 1369 a.d. (Fig. 68). 

While walking along the streets I noted what 
appeared to be mason-marks on many of the stones : 

Hi 00 Y 11 tA AON 
H 01 T 8 + I S 

Fig. 69. 

they are given in Fig. 69. Ornamental mouldings, 
presumably Roman, were on the lintels above some 




6' 6' 

Fig. 70, 



of the doors of the modern houses. Fig. 70 shows 
specimens of these. There was also a broken stone 
with part of an Arabic inscription in high relief 

10 — 2 



148 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



(Fig. 72), and a cruciform ornamentation (Fig. 71) 
occurred on some of the blocks. 



Beyond the parts described above I was unable to 
explore at Ed Dera'ah, and without doubt there is 
still much left to be investigated by some future 
visitor. Ed Dera'ah may, I think, be identified 
with the ancient capital of Bashan and the residence 
of King Og, and I make no doubt that a little exca- 
vation would yield a rich harvest of discovery. But 
as the ostensible object of my journey was merely to 
map the country for a railway, my researches could 
not be thorough, and the foregoing can only be con- 
sidered as a preliminary survey of the many objects 
of interest which may be found here. 

Ed DukkaMn. — The stores of El Mezeirib (see El 
Mezeirib). 

DcCd. — A village lying north-east of Tuffas, with a 
curious ancient tower or Medany. Unexplored. 

Darb el Haj. — The high road of the Mecca 
pilgrims, commencing at Damascus. It is broad 
and level, and in the first part running between 
Nawa and Turrah is stoneless. With but little 





Fig. 71. 



Fig. 72. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



149 



alteration it would, during the summer months, be 
available for wheeled vehicles. 

Deir el Lubwah. — A miserable village consisting of 
a few stone huts, not permanently occupied. Ex- 
tensive ruins scattered about show that the place 
was the site of an ancient city. A good spring, the 
'Ain el Lubwah, is near it. 

Dolmens. — The dolmens of Western Hauran lie a 
short distance outside, and to the west of the large 
village of Tsil. The ground these monuments 
occupy is a tract elevated about 10 feet above the 
surrounding country, which slopes gradually down 
towards the south. Like the land near 'Ain Dakkar 
it is covered with volcanic mounds, from which the 
great slabs were taken for the construction of the 
dolmens ; but the mounds in this part are less high 
than are those in the neighbourhood of the Jisrs of 
the 'Allan and Rukkad. The necropolis, which 
extends from Tsil to the Jisr el 'Allan, a distance of 
a mile and half, with an average breadth, from north 
to south, of about 200 yards, covers an area of about 
120 acres. Originally it extended further south again, 
as is seen by the now isolated slabs lying scattered 
about the cultivated land. A peculiarity in the ap- 
pearance of this dolmen-field, and in which it differs 
from that previously described, under the name of the 
Kubur Beni Israil, is that we meet here with lines 
of rude stones, set up in straight rows among the 



150 EASTERN f A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



dolmens. They are formed of unhewn slabs about 
a yard high, and from their position bear the appear- 
ance of having been placed here by the hand of mam 
The rows vary from 10 to 30 yards long, and even 
more. There are two which run in the direction 
from west-north-west to east-south-east, in parallel 
lines, about 15 feet apart ; but it may be a question 
whether this avenue of stones is not simply a con- 
tinuation of the Roman road from the Jisr el 'Allan 
to Tsil. However, I am inclined to think that 
we have here some of the rude-stone monuments, 
described by Captain C. R. Conder in his ' Heth 
and Moab ' (chap, vii., p. 196, ff. sub. 1), and 
by him held to be alignments or avenues. The 
question is the more difficult to decide upon as the 
Fellahin of Tsil now cultivate a part of the dolmen- 
field, and, in doing so, have somewhat upset the 
original plan ; . for every now and then they have 
transferred a stone from its original place to one 
where it would better serve their purpose. 

At the western end of the dolmen-field, close to 
the 'Allan, there is a mound called Rujm el Kheleif, 
covered with rude blocks of basalt. If the above- 
described avenue were carried on, it would lead 
exactly to this mound, and this would tend to confirm 
the view that we have here a sacred hill, to which 
conducted an 1 avenue of approach,' as described 
in Captain Conder's work (p. 206). Similar circles 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



of huge basaltic blocks were also found near Jamleh 
and in Western Jaulan. In general plan, the dolmens 
near Tsil were similar to those of the Kubur Beni 
Israil ; but the specimens are not nearly so well 
preserved, owing to the efforts at cultivation which 
have invaded the ruins. Each dolmen here occupies 
an elevation, but whether this, originally, was arti- 
ficially terraced or not cannot now be decided. The 
side-stones are rudely set, as are those at 'Ain 
Dakkar; the head-stones have a thickness of from 
2 feet to 2 feet 3 inches, and are 6 feet 6 inches 
and more square. These blocks had apparently 
been left in their natural shape, and we found no 
headings on the covering slabs, as was noticed to be 
the case with those at 'Ain Dakkar. The dolmen 
chambers seem to be of the same size and shape as 
those of the Kubur Beni Israil, and, like them, in 
their main axis had the direction of west to east. 
Most of the dolmens found near Tsil are now fallen 
in and ruined. In a few cases, the upper slab still 
covers the western part of the chamber, and the 
side-stones are often in situ. These last are smaller 
in size than are those found at 'Ain Dakkar, and 
consequently greater in number, four, five, and six 
on each of the long sides (Fig. 73). 

As in no case is there a second covering-slab 
found lying near, it would seem probable that there 
never existed more than one ; and the fact that it 



152 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



is invariably placed over the western end of the 
chamber, and that the side-stones extend several 
feet beyond it in an easterly direction, would lead to 
the supposition that, instead of marking the upper 
part by headings (as in the dolmens at the Kubur 
Beni Israil), here this was shown by the covering-slab 
itself. For it was placed over the more honoured 
part of the bod}', the head and chest, which, being at 



the western end, would face the rising sun ; while 
the extremities were merely fenced round by slabs, 
and not covered in at all. 

The farthest off dolmens of this field are found 
near the Jisr el 'Allan ; but also to the west of it, and 
north of the Roman road, single dolmen slabs can 
be traced as far as the neighbourhood of 'Ain Dakkar, 
and this leads me to believe that the whole northern 
part of the Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh, where it is 
covered by volcanic mounds, was once an immense 
necropolis of dolmens. 




Fig. 73.— Dolmen of Tsil. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



153 



El Emshiyaddt. — A marsh from which flows a good 
stream of water, a little south-west of Tel el Ash'ary. 
It turns the Tawahin (mills) el Biariat. 

Khurbet el Emheiris. — The site of a modern, but 
now totally ruined, village ; there are traces of ancient 
remains. It is situated in the muddy Wady el 
Emheiris, opposite Tell el Ash'ary, on the north. 

El Emzeira'ah. — A ruined village with traces of 
ancient buildings. 

Heit. — A village of moderate size, containing about 
thirty huts, built some of stone and some of mud. 
The best built and largest is the sheikh's house. 
The population does not exceed 150 Muhammedans. 
Some ruins lie near. Standing close on the steep 
borders of the Nahr el 'Allan, it commands a good 
view down into the gorge of this river. It possesses 
excellent arable land, and a water-supply from 
springs on the borders of the 'Allan. This village 
has been but recently built and settled by families 
coming from Sahem ej Jaulan, who have abandoned 
their property there to the usurers, and migrating, 
have built themselves houses among the scattered 
ruins of the ancient Heit. 

Hummdm Sikndny. — See Ed Dera'ah. 

Hummdm Ayyub. — See Sheikh Sa'ad. 

J'arah. — An extensive ruin showing great heaps 
of hewn and unhewn stones. It is situated on the 
Wady el Ehreir, near El 'Amurfyeh. The remains 



154 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



of two ancient villages cover the low hills, but there 
are also other ruins scattered about the neighbour- 
hood, over the ground lying between the two sites. 

jfisr el Ehreir. — A ruined bridge crossing the Wady 
el Ehreir, where there is a gorge about 20 feet deep 
below the surrounding country. As far as can now 
be seen, the bridge originally consisted of fourteen 
arches ; of these ten are still partially standing, but 
the rest have almost entirely disappeared. The 
bridge had a total length of 245 feet, and the road- 
way was 18 feet 9 inches wide. A large pointed 
arch is in the middle 16 feet 6 inches in span, and 
18 feet from the crown of the arch to the stream 
below (September, 1884). The small arches to the 
south of the main one are completely ruined, while 
those on the north are still in such a condition as 
to allow of foot-passengers crossing with care. The 
bridge is, of course, impassable for animals, who 
take a more easterly road, where the sides of the 
wady are low, and the stream easy to cross even in 
the rainy season. 

Jillin. — A small, miserable-looking village, with no 
ancient remains, containing twenty huts, built some 
of mud and some of stone, with a population of 
about 100 negroes. I was informed that these 
negroes had been settled here by a certain Sheikh 
Sa'ad, the son of 'Abd el Kader, who was himself a 
negro from the Soudan. He established negro 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



155 



slaves in this place, and also in the village of Sheikh 
Sa'ad, where he built a monastery for them, and 
gave them their liberty. They have gradually spread 
over the country, and now occupy not only Jillin, 
but also portions of Tell el Ash'ary, El 'Ajamy, Kefr 
es Samir, Yublah, and Zeizun. The story was often 
repeated to me by negroes in other places, and it 
agrees with what former travellers, such as Consul 
Wetzstein, state concerning the immigration of 
negroes into this country. 

The negroes settled at Jillm and elsewhere are 
pleasant in their manners ; they have vineyards and 
gardens, watered by the Wady el Emheiris, which 
produce beautiful grapes and vegetables. They are, 
however, lazy and devoid of enterprise ; they live in 
miserable mud huts, much inferior to those of the 
rest of the Fellahin of Hauran, and they allow the 
most fertile soil to lie waste around them. 

The negro women are neither shy in manner nor 
hostile in disposition, as are often the Fellahin 
women, who objected more to our surveying work 
than ever did their husbands. The negresses, on 
the contrary, when we allowed them to peep through 
the telescope of the theodolite, soon became our 
very good friends. 

Khurbet Jebeleh. — A small ruin a mile west of 
Sahem ej Jaulan. It is close to the borders of the 
'Allan, on a small mound, the summit of which 



156 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



is covered with large stones of irregular shape. 
Scattered ruins extend for some distance down from 
this to the plain. The neighbourhood is rendered 
marshy by the spring and the stream of the Wady 
Jebeleh. 

Khurbet ej Jebaliyeh. — A ruin consisting of deserted 
huts of stone, sometimes used during the autumn 
months by the Nu'em Bedawin as storehouses. The 
huts are built very wide apart, and are spread over 
the plain. It is apparently an ancient site. A road 
from Nawa to the Jisr el Allan runs through the 
place, and from its situation in the midst of so fine 
a country it ought to have attracted settlers before 
now ; but the Nu'em tribe having temporary occu- 
pation of it, villagers from other places do not dare 
to dispute possession with them. 

Karak. — See Ed Dera'ah. 

Kandt Fara'un. — See Ed Dera'ah. 

Kum el Mezeirib. — See El Mezeirib. 

El Kulak el 'Atikah. — See El Mezeinb. 

El KuVah ej Jedideh. — See El Mezeirib. 

Kum el Kussub. — A hill covered with extensive 
ruins, among which grow two beautiful butm trees 
(terebinths). It is the point of the shoulder, on the 
north of which is the Wady el Ehreir, and on the 
south the Moyet Zeizun. The spot commands a 
fine view over the charming valley at the junction 
of the two rivers, where they flow to the Wady 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



157 



esh Shelaleh and the head of the Shari'at el 
Menadireh. 

El Mezeirib. — The first station of the pilgrims on 
their way from Damascus to Mecca. Here they are 
wont to take several days' rest, and wait for the con- 
tingents which arrive from the Hauran and the 
west. On the east of the village (see plan, Fig. 74) 
stands the citadel, now rapidly going to ruin, called 
the KuVah el 'Attkah, or the Old Castle. It is well 
built of hewn and unhewn stones, as is said, by 
Sultan Selim, who in a.d. 15 18 conquered Syria. 
The citadel is a great two-storied square building, 
of 279 feet 8 inches side, surmounted by square 
towers. At each of the four corners rises a tower, 
the plan of which is a square of 39 feet 7 inches 
side : and three smaller rectangular towers of 30 feet 
4 inches side occupy the middle points in the 
southern, eastern, and western walls. The eastern 
and western walls have each twenty-two windows in 
the second storey, and the southern wall twenty- 
three ; two or three windows also are pierced in 
each of the middle towers. To the north opens a 
gate, 12 feet 4 inches wide, surmounted by an arch 
with mouldings, supported on Corinthian columns, 
with acanthus-leaved capitals. Through this gate- 
way, after passing a winding passage, formerly closed 
by an iron door, the courtyard is reached, which is 
overlooked by the square towers before described, 



158 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



under which, on the ground-floor, are cross-arched 
vaultings, formerly set apart as grain magazines for 
the use of the pilgrims. The upper storey, where 
are the rooms for the pilgrims, is reached by two 
double stairs, in the east and west of the court. 
These lead in either case to a sort of divan, con- 
structed in the middle towers. The upper storey is 
now totally ruined, and only portions of the sur- 
rounding walls as high as the windows yet stand. 
The magazines in the ground-floor are also for the 
most part in ruins, but one or two are still fit 
for use, and a large modern vault has been built in 
the north wall near the gate, which is now used as a 
Government storehouse, for receiving the tenths 
and the taxes, paid in, in kind, by the Fellahm. 
The total height of the castle walls as they yet stand 
may be from 35 to 40 feet. The north-western 
tower, which, by travellers at the beginning of the 
century, is reported to have been armed with 
cannon, is now the best preserved, and commands a 
view over the neighbouring country. In the centre 
of the court there is a small rectangular mosque, the 
Jam'aah, measuring 23 feet by 19 feet, with a round 
niche in the southern wall ; but the whole building 
is now a complete ruin. To the south of it is a 
modern badly-built chamber, which, with several 
other rooms built of mud and stone in various parts 
of the courtyard, are used to shelter the caravan of 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



159 



pilgrims. A large pillar stands at the northern end 
of the eastern wall of the court. The castle is still 
constantly occupied by Bedawin caravans carrying 
grain, who, on their journey down to the sea, make 
here their halt. The castle, which must be about 
365 years old, has been built partly out of more 

Inscription. 111 the court/ of 
the Kulak eL Atikak,Mezeirib. 




-KOYA&PA 
T I A N OCA 

I ore NOY 

CfTA^TCO 




Fig. 75- 

ancient remains, as is proved by the Roman mould- 
ings set in the walls, and the great numbers of 
Greek inscriptions found lying about ; but with one 
exception these last were too weather-worn to be de- 
ciphered. This inscription, built into the south-east 
corner of the modern vault above-mentioned, is 
given in Fig. 75. 

On the north-western tower the ornaments shown 
in Fig. 76 were noticed, and the rosette, Fig. 77, 



i6o EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



occurred in the wall of the Jam'aah. The citadel 
crowns a low stony elevation ; an immense dunghill 



Ornaments of !Noxili western tower 




Fig. 76. 

lies north of the gate, and beyond is the clear 
stream which comes down from Ras el 'Ain and 



Ornament of Jamaah. 















~ «?- > 



Fig. 77. 



flows into the Bahret el Bajjeh. Beyond this we 
enter the so-called Ed Dickkakin, or storehouses 
(see Fig. 78). Here are stored the crops, and before 
setting out the pilgrims provide themselves here with 
provisions for their long journey through the desert. 
Vegetables are procurable, and fine grapes in August 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



162 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



and September, and many of the stores keep kitchen 
utensils. The Suk, or bazaar, resembles that of 
Damascus in miniature, and is very superior to that 
of Ed Dera'ah. The Fellahin and Bedawin of the 
neighbourhood frequent this place, and every other 
day they butcher sheep, goats, or a camel for meat. 
Some of the Dukkakin are well built houses for 
this part of the country, with plastered walls, and 
gable roofs of timber, covered, not with tiles, but with 
mud, of which El Mezeirib has an abundance. The 
Dukkakin, through which passes a broad road, are 
surrounded by some fifty miserable mud huts. To 
the west of the Dukkakin there is also a suburb of 
these. Along the northern bank of the stream, up to 
Ras el 'Ain, the merchants have planted vegetable 
gardens and vineyards, also willows, acacias, and 
a few fruit trees ; but on the southern bank and in 
the neighbourhood of the spring there is nothing but 
a jungle of ' kusseib,' or cane. A little to the north 
of the Dukkakin, on the way to Sheikh Sa'ad, are 
the ruins of a second fortress — the KuVah ej Jedideh, 
or the New Castle, which is said to have been built 
by a certain Dia Pasha, or Yusuf Dia, a former 
Mutasarrif of Hauran. It is of a later date, but is 
none the less now more of a ruin, than is the Kul'ah 
el 'Atikah, and it is no longer used as a khan. The 
plan is rectangular, 190 feet long, and 115 feet wide ; 
and, as far as can be seen from the walls yet stand- 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



163 



ing, it contained many large and small chambers. 
Between the Dukkakm and the Kul'ah el 'Atikah, 
the stream of Ras el 'Ain broadens, and its banks 
have here been strengthened with modern masonry. 
Traces of an ancient building are found on the 
northern bank, called El Hummdm, the Bath. Below 
this the stream is dammed up, and below serves to 
turn a mill which is of a construction superior to 
what is generally found in this country. The mill has 
three stones and is solidly built of squared basalt 
blocks. It is the property of the Government, and 
is managed by from eight to twelve soldiers, under 
an officer, who is stationed at El Mezeirib to receive 
the Government tenths and taxes, which are paid in 
cereals by the Fellahm and Bedawin. The corn is 
ground night and day at the mill, and the flour 
is immediately taken to the 'Furrun,' or oven, an 
isolated building next to the mill, where it is made 
up into dough and baked, and the loaves are sent 
off to Damascus for the consumption of the garrison. 
As the climate is very feverish and the place lone- 
some, soldiers consider being sent here in the light 
of a punishment, and they are always relieved at 
short intervals. 

After working the mill, the stream runs into the 
Bahret el Bajjeh, sometimes also called Bahret el 
Mezeirib (described above, p. 27), a small lake 
crowded with carp, occupying a depression of the 

n — 2 



1 64 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



ground, and therefore invisible some distance off. In 
summer it covers an area of about 27 acres. This 
Bahret is the watering-place of the Mecca pilgrims, 
and looked upon as sacred. The water has rather 
a brackish taste, and its shores and bottom are 
muddy. Small islands, covered with reedy plants, 
rise up in the lake during the summer drought. In 
the centre is a large island, connected with the 
mainland by a paved and tolerably well-built cause- 
way, about 130 yards long and 3 yards wide. Here 
is the old town called Kum el Mezeirib, the ' hillock 
of El Mezeirib.' This was formerly the residence 
of the Governor of Hauran, but it is now nearly 
deserted, owing to the deadly air, produced by the 
miasmas rising from the surrounding water. It 
contains about sixty huts, built close together, of 
mud and stone, which crown the highest elevation of 
the islet at its northern end. A ditch containing 
water runs through an open place in the centre of 
the island. In the southern part the buildings are 
all in ruins. The island contains ten or twelve 
families, or about 50 souls, which added to the popu- 
lation of the Dukkakin, who number about 200,' 
would give a total population for El Mezeirib of 
about 250 Muhammedans, with 8 to 12 soldiers 
additional. The town was formerly the seat of the 
Mutasarriflik, but this has since been transferred to 
Sheikh Sa'ad, on account of the unhealthiness of 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



65 



the climate, which doubtless also accounts for the 
smallness of the population. 

There are some ancient remains on the Kum ; 
and the foundations of a city-wall, 5 feet and more 
thick, built of rude slabs of basalt, without mortar, 
are seen near the surface of the water. There are 
also several large pillars rising up out in the lake. 
The plan of the village on the island is pear-shaped ; 
and in its northern part it is about 100 yards broad, 
while on the south it tapers to a breadth of about 
30 yards. Kum el Mezeirib must have been in 
ancient times a strongly fortified place ; and the 
ruins and huge basaltic blocks, scattered about on 
the western and northern shores of the lake, would 
seem to be the remains of buildings of a date prior 
to the Moslem Conquest. The present name, of 
' El Mezeirib ' — which means merely the ' Rendez- 
vous of the Pilgrims' (also ' Park') — has doubtless 
taken the place of some more ancient appella- 
tion. 

To the south of the Kul'ah el 'Atikah, on the broad 
Haj road to Turrah, are to be seen two parallel rows 
of large stones. Here the market is held, and pro- 
visions are sold to the pilgrims during their sojourn 
at El Mezeirib. The tents and storehouses of the 
dealers stand behind the stones, and a wide roadway 
is left between. The bustle of the season of the 
pilgrimage must form a strong contrast to the 



1 66 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



silence and dulness which at other times envelop 
the place. 

El Mezeirib is no longer a telegraph station, 
although the line passes by the Kul'ah el 'Atikah, on 
to Irbid. 

El Mezeirib stands 1,437 feet above the sea, and 
its temperature on the 8th of September, 1884, at 
half-past five in the morning, was 55 Fahr. ; and 
at ten o'clock it was 86° Fahr. On the 9th, at 
a quarter to six in the morning, it was 53 Fahr. ; 
and at ten o'clock, 84 Fahr. On neither of these 
mornings was there any appearance of dew, 
although during the night it had been very cold. 
The immediate neighbourhood of the town is 
stony, but beyond, the stones give place to a fine 
reddish soil, resembling that of the Nukrah of 
Hauran. 

Moyet Zeizun. — A fine stream of clear, cool water, 
which forms a high waterfall near Zeizun. Described 
above (p. 30). 

El M'asab. — A natural pool to the north of Tuffas, 
50 by 25 yards across. It is perennial, but is filled 
with dirty rain-water, only, during the summer 
months. 

El Mughdrah, or El Hummdm. — The ruin of an 
ancient building. See under Tell el 'Ashary. 

El Merkez. — The seat of government of Hauran ; 
called also Sheikh Sa'ad. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



167 



Makdm Ayyub, or Makam en Neby Ayyub. — See 
under Sheikh Sa'ad. 

Makdm esh Sheikh el 'Ajamy. — See El 'Ajamy. 

El Muddfy. — A small ancient building. See below, 
under Nawa. 

Nawd. — The largest village that I visited in 
Hauran with the exception of Ed Dera'ah. It is 
well situated, in a high valley, lying between the 
Tell ej Jabiyeh, the Tell ej Jemu'ah, and the volcanic 
hills called Tellui el Hesh ; the valley slopes gently 
down towards Sheikh Sa'ad and Tsil. The soil is 
excellent in the country to the south, but becomes 
rather stony in the land lying to the north and east. 
Nawa may be taken as a specimen of a Hauran 
village of the best type. 

According to my own estimate, which was com- 
pared with information obtained from the sheikhs, 
Nawa contains about 300 houses and huts. These 
are generally built of stone without mortar, and 
many of them are now unoccupied. One villager 
holds two, three, or more of them, and will occupy 
one house till it gets ruined and becomes dangerous 
to live in, when he builds a new one at a suitable 
place alongside. Ancient building-stones, of which 
there is an abundance, are used for the side-walls, 
the roofs being formed of tree-trunks brought from 
the forests of Northern Jaulan. These- are supplied 
by the Circassians, who are in the habit of driving 



1 68 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



all over Hauran, in their heavy two-wheeled carts 
drawn by a team of oxen. They manage to make 
their way, across-country over the rubbish-heaps 
and the stones, with a heavy load of timber, which 
they bring from the forests of their adopted country 
in Jaulan, and sell in the villages. The approach of 
these vehicles may be heard half a mile off, for they 
use no grease on their wheels, and the noise they 
make is deafening. 

The population of Nawa, in spite of the extent of 
ground covered by the village and the numerous dwell- 
ings, does not exceed 750 to 800 souls. The streets 
are, as a rule, wide, and mostly straight. Large yards 
surround the houses, and are used as shelter for the 
flocks. In the centre of Nawa is a large open space 
surrounding an ancient basin, the sides of which are 
well built, the basin itself being 40 feet square and 
14 feet deep. It is called 'Ain er Rumashtah, and 
is described above (p. 120). This pool is full all the 
year round, and supplies part of the town with very 
dirty drinking water. To the north of the village 
there is a second 'Ain or spring, which rises at the 
foot of Tell ej Jabiyeh, and supplies a better quality 
of drinking water. Nawa, both in ancient and in 
modern times, has ever been one of the most impor- 
tant and populous towns of North-Western Hauran. 
Ancient buildings have been used again and again, in 
part, for new structures, and many remains are thus 



WESTERN HA URAN. 1 69 

hidden from the eye of the explorer in the interior 
walls, where they are covered with a plastering of 
mud. Nawa is thus a village which has been built 
of ruins, and is surrounded by a great field of them, 
but yet itself contains hardly anything except modern 
buildings. All about lie heaps of hewn and unhewn 
stones. Fragments of mouldings and ancient sculp- 
tures are common in the walls, but, curiously 
enough, no inscription was anywhere found. 

The old buildings of any interest yet preserved 
are but two — the Muddfy and the Medany. The 
first, the Muddfy, lies at the extreme south end of 
the town, and would seem originally to have formed 



El Mudaiy at Ia.wa 




Fig. 79. 

part of a neighbouring and larger construction. It is 
a small building, 19 feet square, and about 8 feet high, 



i7o EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



with pilasters at each of the four corners, supporting 
a capital and standing on a base (see Fig. 79). One 
square opening, a door, is in the west wall. The 
building stones, of basalt, are well hewn, but the 
horizontal courses are often broken, and the stones 
are not all rectangular. 

Along the southern side of the village, and adjacent 
to the little building just described, there are some 
remains of ancient walls. The ground here, how- 
ever, is now so entirely built over by the modern huts, 
that no idea could be gained of the original plan of 
the building to which these belonged. The Muddfy, 
as shown by its name, is the ' Menzul,' or guest- 
chamber : it has been lately restored, and the roofing 
is modern and of wood. The absence of all windows 
makes it probable that this Mudafy was originally a 
mausoleum. A large yard, used for stabling the 
horses of the guests, surrounds it, and the whole 
building is the property of the Sheikh Ahsein, one of 
the chief men of Nawa. 

The second ancient building is the Medany (Fig. 
80), and is one of the peculiar towers already described 
in the article on Ed Dera'ah (see above, p. 133). Al- 
though now a ruin, it still stands about 50 feet high, 
and the plan of the base is a square of 16 feet 6 inches. 
In the construction, no mortar was used at the 
joints. Its lower part, unlike the tower at Ed Dera'ah, 
has the form of a truncated pyramid, crowned by 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



171 



a simple moulding. Above this the tower rises per- 
pendicularly, and has a wide-pointed arched window 
on either side. The corners are raised and form a 
sort of battlement. The slabs of the roof have now 
in many cases fallen in, but seem originally to have 




J-Ietlany at Nawa 
FIG. 80. 



been dovetailed together. On the south of the 
Medany stands a Corinthian column of basalt, un- 
fluted, 13 feet high, and 1 foot 5 inches in diameter. 
It supports the fragment of a Corinthian entablature, 
surmounting a wall which is connected with the 
masonry of the tower. Several stones bearing egg- 
mouldings, and vitruvian scrolls, of Roman origin, 
are built into the walls of the Medany. A church or 



172 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



mosque originally stood on the south side of the 
Medany, and this last must be of a later date than 
are the Roman mouldings built into it, which were 
evidently taken from some more ancient building. 
The Medany is now surrounded with dwelling- 
houses, and as the women screamed at our ap- 
proach, we were obliged to retire without pursuing 
our investigations further. The inhabitants of Nawa 
are not very polite, and are, in fact, apt to be hostile 




to foreigners. They had no ancient coins, they 
said; they knew of no antiquities, and they would 
give no information unless we forced it out of them 
by cross-examination, and then their remarks were 
perfunctory and not to be relied upon. 

On the lintel over the door of a modern building, 
close to the 'Ain er Rumashtah, is the ornamenta- 
tion shown in Fig. 81, representing apparently the 
Jewish seven-branched candlestick. 

Not far from the above is a doorway, shown in 
Fig. 82, where three curiously shaped stones {a, b, c) 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



173 



are placed over the plain lintel-stone d. Over the 
gateway of the yard of Sheikh Ibrahim el Midyab's 
dwelling, who is the head-sheikh of Nawa, is a 
lintel-stone 6 feet 6 inches long, and 1 foot 2 inches 
high, which is likewise ornamented with the seven- 




Fig. 82. 



branched candlestick and a sort of vitruvian scroll, 
as shown in Fig. 83. 




k c 6 



Fig. 83. 

In the sheikh's house, or ' Menzul,' is a block 
which evidently formed the key-stone of an arch, on 
which is represented not only the seven-branched 



174 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



candlestick, but also the Jewish jubilee trumpet and 
olive-leaf (Fig. 84). This Sheikh Ibrahim el Mid- 
yab, besides being head-man of Nawa, holds an in- 
fluential position among the sheikhs of Hauran, and 



is regarded by them as the protector of their pro- 
perty. While walking through the streets of Nawa, 
and also in the yards of the houses, we noticed on 
the wall-stones many rude representations of the 
Jewish candlestick (Fig. 84 a) : and in fact we found 
hardly any other form of ornamentation. Nawa 
must presumably have had a preponderating Jewish 
population in ancient times. It is mentioned 
(according to Ritter, Erdkunde, xv. a, ii. a, p. 356) 
in the Antonine Intinerary as ' Neve,' and also by 
Abulfeda ; and it was a Jewish city in the eccle- 
siastical province of Arabia. St. Jerome identifies 




Jevri sK ofn a m ent al ^Nawa 

. 7 '. 6 " ^ 



Fig. 84. 



Fig. 84 a. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



*75 



it (erroneously) with Nineveh, and the late writers of 
the Talmud place it near a city named Chalamis. 
As already noted, we had not the good fortune to 
discover any inscriptions and could obtain no coins, 
which might throw light on the past history 
of this important place. Illegible Arabic characters 
were noticed on some hewn stones, but so carelessly 
engraved and worn that it was doubtful whether 
they were modern or ancient. After passing through 
the western quarter of Nawa, and traversing some 
fields covered with scattered ruins, at a distance of 
80 yards from the last dwelling-houses, we came to 
the Wely of the Sheikh Muhiy ed Din en Nawdwy. 
He is the patron-saint of the town, and is said to 
have been a man of great knowledge and influence. 
The tomb bears traces of having been enclosed by a 
square building, but is now in complete ruin ; but 
there are still the remains of an arch and also of a 
small niche with Roman mouldings, very much de- 
faced. The sarcophagus of the sheikh occupied a 
place in the wall near to the entrance from the 
north. The ruined heap of stones and slabs is now 
shaded by a beautiful butm tree. Originally there 
must have been a small mosque built over the tomb, 
with a niche to the south, the whole being sur- 
rounded by a courtyard. Lying some 400 yards to 
the north-west of this again is the Wely en Neby Sam 
(Fig. 85). All round the ground is covered with 



176 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



stones. The grave itself is marked by a slight 
elevation barely 2 feet high, but some 19 feet long ; 
and no signs of masonry or slabs are to be seen. 
The mound occupies a position near the southern wall 




Fig. 85. 

of a rectangular building, measuring 40 feet long from 
east to west, and 26 feet 5 inches broad from north 
to south. The roof has fallen in, and the remains of 
the walls, 5 to 6 feet high, show that it was 
originally built of hewn and unhewn stones, care- 
fully joined, without mortar. In the southern wall 
are two round-arched windows. In the northern 
wall there is the lower part of a gateway, which was 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



177 



formerly shut by a stone door, as seen from the 
broken portions lying near. This leads out to a 
courtyard, measuring 36 feet 8 inches by 40 feet, lying 
to the north of the mausoleum. It is surrounded 
by a wall of unhewn stones, now many of them 
thrown down. Near the gateway stands a huge and 
very ancient butm or terebinth. A Bir, or cistern, 
with a small modern trough, is found near the 
eastern wall, the Bir being now entirely filled up 
with rubbish. The sarcophagus seen in the wall of 
the yard of the Wely Muhiy ed Din, now used as a 
trough, would presuppose the presence of a well or 
cistern there also ; and in fact a mosque cannot exist 
without a water-supply, as ablution before prayer is 
obligatory. 

This ancient building has served apparently as the 
place of worship, successively, of Christians and 
Moslems, for below the butm tree in the yard is a 




z ■ 0- -> 

Fig. 86. 

basalt slab engraved with Arabic characters, now 
much defaced and broken (Fig. 86), but which, from 

12 



178 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



the name of Allah conspicuous thereon, must have 
had a religious import ; and close to it among the 
rubbish is another basalt block, broken into two, 
bearing a Greek inscription (Fig. 87). A little to 



Willi 



30 

M 



(})AliPYfg^lEAAND!C 

KAi()>ei%%A$oic 

KACCI€PHi™W> riir #/ 
ZWHK fWElC' 

ElEAECera»VANOYl 



Hil 



7 



® 



mi' 1 



2 7" 



Fig. 87. 

the west of the door is a second Greek inscription, 
on a stone built upside down into one of the lower 
courses of the wall (Fig. 88). 

The spot was evidently held sacred among the 



CAEIWN BOYAHC,eN A 

ce J£kaacit(>||§kat 
wN-^^P'ceeeA^ATOTT 

J n 1 evvT<w . MAl IMIIH 

^),M ! ) ,J , ' j )ij^')l') l l i) 1 ii i! i)Jri, 

2' 




Fig. 



early Christians, and the name ' Sam ' is the Arab 
form of Shem, the son of Noah, who, according to 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



179 



the local tradition of Nawa, was burned in this 
tomb. This tradition led me to collect the names 
which might warrant the identification of this 
country with that spoken of in the Bible as the 
Land of Uz. Now we find in the first place that 
Sheikh Sa'ad, three miles south of Nawa, is a spot 
which, from the most ancient times, has been held 
sacred to the memory of Job (Neby Ayyub), 'who 
was a man of the land of Uz' (Job i. 1). Then, 
Tell el Khammdn, ten miles south-east of Sheikh 
Sa'ad, is a name which might recall that of the 
country of Job's friend, Eliphas the Temanite ; while 
En Na'eimeh, a little east of Ed Dera'ah, may be the 
home of his other friend, Zophar the Naamathite ; 
and the district of Ez Zuweit, east of Jebel 'Ajhln, 
I take to be the place from which came his third 
friend, Bildad the Shuhite. Also Beidar Uz, a ruin 
I discovered in the north-western part of Jaulan, 
may be translated the ' barn-floor of Uz.' These 
names and traditions, to my mind, furnish strong 
presumptive evidence that the country of Western 
Hauran — that shown in the present map, and which 
must be held to include a portion of the centre of 
the present Jaulan — represents the Biblical land of 
Uz. A further point of coincidence is afforded by 
the name ' Nawa ' which is nearly identical with 
' Newah ' or ' Nuh,' the Arabic name for Noah, who 
is given as the great grandfather of Uz. Further 

12 — 2 



i.8o EASTERN JA ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



evidence, which would lead to our identifying this part 
of the Hauran with the land of Uz, and make Nawa 
the residence of Job, may be found in Mr. Lawrence 
Oliphant's ' Land of Gilead ' (pages 72, 77, 79) ; and 
should this theory prove to have some foundation in 
fact, the present Wely en Neby Sam might mark 
the site of some more ancient monument and be a 
place of no inconsiderable interest. 

The Neby A bu el Hajjeh, situated a little west of 
the Neby Sam, is another tomb of a Muhammedan 
saint. It is shaded by an old butm tree. 

Khurbet en Nileh. — A ruin presenting scattered 
stones. A good spring, the 'Ain en Nileh, is found 
here near the Tell 'Ashtarah. If I am not mistaken, 
a place called ' Nilacome ' is mentioned in Hierocles, 
which might be identified with the present En 
Nileh. 

Rds el 'Ain. — 1. The spring of the Bahret el 
Bajjeh, which rises a little to the east of the 
Dukkakin of El Mezeirib, now concealed by 
masonry, and covered by a thick jungle of cane. 
There is a fine stream flowing from it to the Bahret 
el Bajjeh. 2. The spring watering the small peren- 
nial Wady Babis, which bubbles out of the earth 
a little to the south of El Mezeirib. 3. A natural 
pool formed by springs, situated about three-quarters 
of a mile to the south-east of Zeizun. From it runs 
the clear and plentiful stream of the Moyet Zeizun. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



181 



Rujm el Kheleif. — A small hill or mound near the 
Jisr el 'Allan, the summit of which is covered with 
large, rude stones, set up artificially ; it is surrounded 
by dolmens. See above, p. 151. 



Khurbet Samakh. — A large ruin, some of it covering 
a slight elevation, and the rest scattered over the 
plain. It lies half-way between El Mezeirib and 
TufTas. To the west of the Khurbet, on the plain, 
is a ruin, the plan of which is a square of 16 feet 
6 inches side. The piers of an arch still remain, 
but the walls are now reduced to the level of the 
ground. The arch divided the room into two equal 
halves, and the floor must have been below the 
surface. (Fig. 89.) 

In the centre of the room is a rectangular stone 
slab, ij yards long and about 1 yard broad, with a 
circular hole, of 8 inches diameter, in the middle. 
This lies among other hewn and unhewn stones in 
the interior of the building, and near it, also on the 




Mausoleum, at Kk Samakh. 

» 



Fig. 89. 



1 82 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAU RAN. 

ground, is the capital of a pillar (Fig. 90), most pro- 
bably that which supported one side of the arch 
already mentioned. On other stones were seen 



Roman mouldings of the egg and pearl pattern, also 
a vitruvian scroll ornament, not completely finished. 
Partly covered with earth, but not far from these, 
was a broken slab of stone, evidently a fragment of 
the longer side of a sarcophagus, which had been 
ornamented with a bas-relief representing a lion 
(Fig. 91). The guide whom I had brought with me 
from El Mezeirib, told me he was present when the 
sarcophagus was first dug out of the mausoleum ; it 
was then, he said, intact and covered by the stone 
with the circular hole in the centre. The sarco- 
phagus was broken into by the Government officials, 
who found inside a jar of gold coins ; these were 
sold, and the proceeds applied to the building of the 




Fig. 90. 



Fig. 91. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



183 



Government flour-mill at El Mezeirib. He also 
stated that many stones had been taken from this 
place and used for building the walls of the mill. 
If all this be true, and I see no reason to doubt the 
main part of my guide's account, the chamber here 
described must have originally been a mausoleum 

Subterranean EuLl^mg^a^ 



resembling that of Sahem ej Jaulan. (See above, 
p. 98.) On the hill of Khurbet Samakh, which is 
covered with a quantity of stone slabs, there are also 
some traces of subterranean buildings. We noticed 
especially many small chambers, measuring about 
10 feet square and of hardly a man's height, dug out 
in the earth. According to the usual method found 
in the Hauran buildings, these are roofed over with 
rude slabs of basalt, 4 and 5 feet long, 7 to 9 inches 
wide, and about 5 inches thick (see Fig. 92), laid one 
close to the other, without mortar. An opening is 




Fig. 92. 



1 84 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 

left at the side, and here there were sometimes steps ; 
the walls being built of unhewn stones and without 
mortar. When the covering-slabs were not long 
enough to stretch across the space, the ends were 
supported by rude corbels. The roof thus formed 
was further covered with other slabs of basalt, laid 
cross-wise, and over all was put earth, thus bringing 
it up to the level of the surrounding country. 
These dwellings most probably date back to the 
very earliest times, when the Hauran was first 
settled. 

Among the rest, one very large underground 
chamber was found which had a length of 33 feet 
and a width of 13 feet, roofed over with a cylindrical 



vault measuring about 12 feet from crown to base. 
At present the whole of the interior is filled with mud 
and rubbish. The crown of the vaulting came up 
to the level of the upper earth. A square door 
was found in the western side of the vault, but no 
other. The stones used were unhewn, small, and 
set together without mortar, leaving spaces of from 




Fig. 93. 



WESTERN HA URAN. 185 

half an inch to an inch in between. The walls of 
the abutment were somewhat carelessly built ; now 
and again they had used stones with mouldings 
(Fig. 93). The building is probably of a later date 
than that of the other subterranean chambers found 
at Kh. Samakh. 

Siret ej jfisr, or Es Streh. — A small hill covered 
with ruins, among which are seen hewn stones, 
Roman mouldings, and many shafts of basalt 
columns, 1 foot 6 inches in diameter. The place 
is not far from the Jisr el Ehreir. There stood 
here, perhaps, a temple devoted to the worship of 
Ashtaroth (the deity honoured at the neighbouring 
Tell el Ash'ary), or else, as the Arabic name, Siret, 
would indicate, there was here a causeway to the 
bridge, and possibly a Roman toll-house. 

Kefr es Sdmir. — A miserable village, now only 
partly occupied, but surrounded by great heaps of 
basalt blocks, and traces of modern buildings. On 
the east are the remains of an ancient building, 
which was probably a convent, similar to the one 
found at Sahem ej Jaulan. Unfortunately, while I was 
surveying here, one of my Zaptiehs got into a quarrel 
with the villagers about barley, and hence they were 
to me more reserved and hostile than even were 
their neighbours at Sahem ej Jaulan. The village 
is built for the most part of stone, and must in old 
days have been a place of some importance. The 



1 86 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



population, however, is rapidly decreasing, and only 
about 40 huts, with barely 150 Muhammedans, are 
now found here. The greater number of houses are 
in ruin. There is abundance of water all round the 
village, but this renders the climate unhealthy, for 
the ground is marshy. The soil, however, is ex- 
cellent. The villagers are very hostile to every 
' Beij ' (Bey) or foreigner who comes there, , believing 




Fig. 94. 



that the result of his visit can only be to deprive 
them of the little yet left to them by the usurers. 
The only sketch I was able to make was of a slab on 
which in bas-relief is the figure of a wheel, with an 
ornamented nave (Fig. 94). 

Es SufuMyeh. — A hill covered with scattered ruins, 
opposite Khurbet Jebeleh, and close to the 'Allan. 
The large unhewn stones have been used by the 
shepherds to make sheepfolds. There is an abund- 
ance of water round the place. To the north is the 
marshy Wady Jebeleh, and close on the south is 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



187 



the plentiful spring 9 A in Sufukiyeh, which turns 
several small mills on the slopes of the 'Allan. 

Sheikh Sa'ad.* — The seat of the Mutasarrif of 
Hauran. The place consists of two parts, the old 
village of Sheikh Sa'ad to the north, and f of a mile 
south of this El Merkez, ' the centre,' or seat of 
government. 




Fig. 95. — Village of Sheikh Sa'ad. From a photograph. 



The old village of Sheikh Sa'ad is a miserable- 
looking place, containing about 60 huts built of 
stone and mud, many of them now fallen to ruin. 
It has a population of about 220 souls, all without 
exception negroes. As already mentioned in the 
account of Jillin (see p. 155), these negroes were 
brought by Sheikh Sa'ad, himself a native of the 
Soudan, to this part of the country, and settled in 
* Also called Saadlyeh. 



1 88 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



a monastery which he built here. He gave those 
who were slaves their liberty, and left an endowment 
for the monastery, which still affords revenues on 
which the negroes subsist, and furnishes a sufficient 
surplus to pay the servants who attend the makam 
or tomb of the founder. Long before the time of 
the Muhammedan saint, however, the neighbour- 
hood was celebrated for the Monastery of Job, the 
* Deir Ayyub.' The ruins of this edifice are found 
at the present Merkez; and its walls have lately 
been rebuilt, and the place turned into a barrack. 
The Monastery of Job (according to Professor 
Socin in Baedeckers 'Palestine and Syria,' also 
Wetzstein in his ' Reisebericht ') was a spot much 
venerated by the ancient people of the Hauran, who 
held this to be the country of Job, and the first 
monastery was built by the Jefnide king, Ama I., 
as early as the middle of the third century of our 
era. 

At the present day, at Sheikh Sa'ad, there are 
rival saints, for while the sheikh is adored by the 
negroes, Job is the patron of the greater mass of the 
Fellahin. The stream flowing from the Hummam 
Ayyub, and passing the Makam esh Sheikh Sa'ad, 
is therefore known by a double name, being called 
Moyet Ayyub or Moyet Sheikh Sa'ad, according as 
it is a negro or a Fellah who is speaking. 

In the village are the remains of many square 



WESTERN HA URAN. 189 

subterranean chambers, very like those found at 
Khurbet Samakh (p. 183), but the slabs forming 
the ceiling have generally fallen in. They are at 
present used for storing straw, but they show how 
long ago the place was settled. The streets are 
narrow and dusty, and contain a few shops for the 
s.ale of provisions. Round the western part of the 
village, and irrigated by the ' Moyet ' of the two 
saints, the negroes have planted fruit trees and 
cultivate vegetables and vines. The grapes are of 
excellent flavour, and of large size. An attempt 
recently made (as shown by the two water-towers 
here) to supply the Merkez with drinking-water from 
this source has apparently failed. 

At the south-eastern extremity of the long, low 
hill upon which the village is built, and elevated 
about 40 feet above the surrounding plain (see Fig. 
95), is the Wely Sakhret Ayyub, or ' Rock of Job.' 
It stands in a rectangular Jam'aah or mosque, which 
measures 43 feet from north to south, and 33 feet 
from east to west, the roof being supported by six 
columns and ten pilasters, the latter built into the 
wall, connected above by pointed arches, each with 
a keystone in the crown (see Figs. 96, 97). 
The span of the centre arche is 11 feet 6 inches, 
while the side ones measure 8 feet 3 inches. The 
pillars are rectangular, and surmounted by simple 
cube-shaped capitals, like the generality found in 



igo EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



Hauran, and they are without bases. The height of 
the Jam'aah, from the ceiling down to the rubbish 
on the floor, is 26 feet. The roof was covered in 
with large basalt slabs, laid from arch to arch and 
supported by corbels like those found in the chambers 




Fig. 96. Fig. 97. 



at Khurbet Samakh (see p. 184). In the east wall 
is a door, but the main entrance was from the north, 
where there is a courtyard. A small niche in the 
southern wall, 6 feet 6 inches high, 2 feet 7 inches 
wide (Fig. 98), has over it a cylindrical vaulting, and 
is flanked by two beautiful pillars of white marble. 
In front of this niche, and under the first centre 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



191 



arch, is the sacred stone, the ' Sakhret Ayyub,' or 
the Rock of Job. Here, so says the legend, Job 
sat, when he was leprous, and received his friends. 
The Rock is a monolith (Fig. 99) of basalt, 7 feet 
high, and about 4 feet broad, but was originally, in 
all probability, larger than it now is, and the floor 
is covered with rubbish and pieces of stone fallen 
down from the walls of the building. 



The rock is split into two portions by a horizontal 
crack, and on its surface are marks somewhat re- 
sembling modern letters, but they were perfectly 
illegible. Whether the small circular depression in 
the upper part near the right-hand corner be natu- 
ral or artificial I was unable to decide. I agree, 
however, with Mr. Lawrence Oliphant (' Land of 
Gilead,' p. 83), who finds good reason for connect- 




Rock of Job , facing the niche . 



Fig. 98. 



Fig. 99. 



192 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



ing this stone with the ancient worship of the 
Phoenicians ; and it is, therefore, a most interest- 
ing relic, and, I imagine, one of great antiquity. 
When in camp near the Wely of the Sakhret 
Ayytib, a Fellah came to my tent, and requesting 
me to follow him, led the way to a rock which he 
called ' Khanzir,' or ' the Pig,' and near which (as 
usual in such cases) a great treasure is said to be 
buried. The story runs that some negroes who had 
excavated here found many gold coins, but while 
dividing the booty they quarrelled, and the re- 
mainder of the treasure was, by agreement, left 
buried, and to be dug up at some future time. 
Since, however, the Government has been trans- 
ferred to this place, they have not dared to make 
any further excavations. The monolith or ' Khanzir' 
is of pyramidal form, 6 feet high, and of rude work- 
manship, situated about 200 yards from the Wely to 
the east. At a distance of 40 yards farther north 
of this, there is a depression in the ground, with 
many large stones piled round it ; but it is im- 
possible now to say whether these originally formed 
a sacred circle or square. Here the treasure was 
said to lie buried. This isolated monolith thus 
rising up in the midst of a flat country must 
originally, I take it, have been an object of re- 
ligious worship. The negroes, it is said, were told 
to dig here by an old Muhammedan sheikh who 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



193 



was occasionally seen passing through Sheikh Sa'ad. 
Over the roof at the south end of the Jam'aah, and 
just above the little niche, rises a whitewashed 
cupola, surmounting a tower, 12 feet high, and 10 
feet square, which has round-arched windows in 
each of its four sides. The building is constructed of 
squared stones. The surface of the ground on the 
western side of the Jam'aah, orWely Sakhret Ayyub, 
is nearly on a level with the roof of the building, but 
on the eastern side the wall stands up to a height of 
about 30 feet ; and the dwelling-houses crowd it in 
on the north and west. Standing on the top of the 
square tower, which rises about 80 feet above the 
surrounding country, an admirable view is obtained. 
The sanctuary is now falling into ruin, and the in- 
terior becoming dangerous from the blocks that are 
loose in the roof. 

The negroes of Sheikh Sa'ad are good-natured 
people, and friendly in their manners to foreigners. 
They are much lazier than the Fellahin. They live 
almost entirely on the vegetables and fruits from the 
gardens, but in the way of agriculture they do as 
little as they can. The Hummdm Ayyub, or ' Bath 
of Job,' lies to the east of the Wely, or Makdm, which 
is the tomb of Sheikh Sa'ad, and just at the foot of 
the hill. The Hummam is an ancient square build- 
ing, with the upper part modern and covered over 
by a large cupola. From a spring which rises at 

13 



194 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



the foot of the hill, an open channel conducts water 
through the yard to the bath, where it gushes out 
into a tank in the floor. The bath is evidently 
modern. It is reputed to have healing virtues, being 
from the identical source in which Job washed him- 
self when suffering from leprosy. The square build- 
ing is ancient, and built in the old Hauran style of 
architecture, very simple, with large hewn and un- 
hewn stones, and has very thick walls. The place 
is greatly venerated by the Fellahin and Bedawin, 
who were present in such numbers during my 
visit, as effectually to prevent any sketches being 
made. The Hummam is surrounded by a courtyard 
known as the Jam'aah. On the west of it is the 
Makdm, or Wely esh Sheikh Sa'ad, a building which 
is considerably larger than the Hummam Ayyub. 
Entering a large paved court, called the Jam'aah, 
we found that the centre was occupied by a basin of 
clear, cool water, shaded by a magnificent walnut- 
tree, while willows are planted all round the yard. 
On the south is the Wely, or tomb, a large square 
building with a cupola. A hall for prayer has been 
added, running out at right angles from its western 
end. The spot is surrounded by gardens, one of 
which, lying between the Hummam Ayyub and the 
Wely of the Sheikh, is kept in excellent order by 
the negroes. They manifested some suspicion and 
jealousy when their sanctuary was thus visited by 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



195 



an unbeliever; and apparently, at the present day, 
the tomb of the Soudanese Saint is held in higher 
esteem than is the shrine of the Patriarch. 

Leaving the shrines and following the broad road, 
we went on to the Merkez, which lies three-quarters 
of a mile to the south of the village. Along this road 
the Government has planted rows of trees, which 
are watered by the Moyet Ayyub. 




El Merkez from ike Jforftt. 

Fig. 100. 



The Merkez (the Centre) is the residence of the 
Governor of the Hauran. It is a group of Govern- 
ment buildings, consisting of the Serayah on the 
south ; the Telegraph Office (international service) 
on the east ; a barrack on the north ; and the 
Mutasarrif's private residence on the west (Fig. 100). 
These stand round a great Square, about 330 feet 
across, and near the Serayah is a water-tank. The 
buildings are all new, and well-built of squared stones 

13—2 



196 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



set in mortar. In the north-western corner may 
still be seen the remains of a one-storied building, 
constructed of hewn stones, not unlike the sheikhs' 
houses at Sahem ej Jaulan and Kefr es Samir. This 
is all that is now left of the Deir Ayyub, or Convent 
of Job, described as standing here by Wetzstein, 
and at the time of his visit still untouched. It now 
forms part of the barrack, and is plastered and 
whitewashed over the whole of the interior. On 
the lintel of the rectangular southern door on the 




Fig. ioi. 



side looking into the yard is a cross in relief with 
the A and 12 cut below (Fig. ioi), showing that the 
original building must have been Christian. The 
dwellings of Government officials and a small Suk, 
or bazaar, for vegetables and other provisions, lie to 
the east of the Government Square, and the town 
is now increasing rapidly in size. The entire 
population of Sheikh Sa'ad and the Merkez does 
not as yet exceed 260 souls : this number, however, 
does not include the soldiers and Zaptiehs of the 
Mutasarrifiyeh. There is abundance of water in the 
neighbourhood, and this renders the climate rather 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



197 



feverish ; but the Governor has begun of late to 
plant the neighbourhood with eucalypti, willows, 
and other trees, which without doubt will make the 
place more healthy. 

In the western wall of the Square is the gate lead- 
ing to the Makam Ayyub, or grave of Job. Here is a 
rectangular building (see Fig. 102) of much the same 
character as the Hummam Ayyub, 45 feet long and 




27 feet across. It stands close outside the western 
wall of the Government Square, and contains two 
chambers. The larger of these, to the west, measures 
23 by 26 feet, and is divided into two sections by a 
round arch, the piers of which have neither capitals 
nor bases, and which, from the crown to the paved 
floor, measures 13 feet. The square doorway in the 
north wall has the Greek inscription illustrated in 
Fig. 103 carved on the lintel. In the eastern wall 



198 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



of the chamber an opening leads into the inner 
sanctuary. This contains two graves, that of Job 
lying to the south, and on the north that of his wife ; 
these are long and narrow, built up with stones to 
a height of a couple of feet, and plastered over. 
Rags of different colours, fastened on sticks which 
are left here by visitors, almost cover the graves. In 
the northern wall there is a small square window. 
The building is one storey high, and is faced with 
slabs of basalt. 

At Sheikh Sa'ad there is a Telegraphic Office, and 

MOYAATOC 
NATA60Y ~o| 

Fig. 103. 

telegrams can be sent from here by way of Damascus 
to any part of the world, in Arabic or any European 
language. Sheikh Sa'ad stands at an elevation of 
1,624 f ee * above the sea-level. The thermometer 
during my stay there registered on September 10th, 
at 5.30 in the morning, 54*5° Fahr. ; at 10 o'clock, 
86° Fahr. September nth, at 5.30 in the morning, 
it was 54° Fahr. ; and at 10 o'clock, 82 Fahr. 

Khurbet es Sanriin. — A ruin of small size, con- 
sisting of a few stone huts, occupied during part of 
the year by some 10 or 12 'men. It is ij miles due 
east of the village of Sheikh Sa'ad. 




WESTERN HAURAN. 



199 



Sinn Nawa. — A range of rocky, volcanic hills lying 
to the east of Nawa. Their summits were split 
during some epoch of volcanic activity, and they 
appear from a distance like teeth, which has led to 
the name ' Sinn,' or ' Teeth - of Nawa, being applied 
to them. 

Tell el Mukdrim. — A small hill at the junction of 
the valleys of the Ehreir, of the Moyet Zeizun, and 
the Wady esh Shelaleh. It forms the western ex- 
tremity of the ridge running between the Ehreir 
and the Moyet Zeizun. 

Tdhunet ez Z'abeh. — A corn-mill at the junction of 
the above-mentioned valleys. 

Turrah. — A good-sized village on the Haj road, 
5 miles south of El Mezeirib. Unexplored. 

Tellul Kana'dn. — Two small hills a mile north of 
Tell esh Shehab, near the Wady el Bajjeh. Their 
Arabic name, which may be rendered ' the hills of 
Canaan,' is worthy of note, and, I imagine, must be 
old. There are ruins found on both the hills, but 
they are not sufficiently well-preserved to enable a 
judgment to be formed as to their date. 

Taw ohm et Tell. — The name of a group of thirty- 
five corn-mills, which, with the ruins of many others, 
belong to the large town of Tell esh Shehab. They 
are situated above and below the waterfall of the 
Wady el Bajjeh in the Wady Tell esh Shehab. 

Tell esh Shehdb. — A large and populous village 



200 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



situated at the head of the Wady Tell esh Shehab, 
and shut in on the north, south, and west by the 
gorge. On the east it is approached by a narrow 
neck. The village itself is built on the hill, and to 
the east has the remains of fortifications, built with 
large unhewn stones. A line of outworks, formed 
by a sloping wall 20 feet and more high (Fig. 104), 
built with small unhewn stones, and still in a good 
state of preservation, serves to protect the village ; 




Fig. 104. 



and outside this there are no buildings. The only 
entrance is from the east, through what must have 
been an ancient gateway. Here two solid stairways 
in opposite flights lead up to a sort of landing in 
front of the gateway ; but the structure is much 
fallen to ruin, and many of the stones have been 
taken away, and are built into the neighbouring 
houses. On the three other sides the village is de- 
fended by steep cliffs of basaltic rocks, 60 to 80 feet 
high, which fall abruptly down into the wady. The 



WESTERN HA URAN. 



20 1 



remains of a second and inner wall still exist, stand- 
ing close to the modern houses ; its masonry being of 
the old Roman- Hauran character, while the exterior 
wall, with the steps and the pavement which are 
before the city gate, would appear to be of a later 
date, and were probably built during the earlier years 
of the Muhammedan occupation. The village is 
one of the finest now found in Hauran ; it has wide 
streets, and possesses some very well built houses. 
Those belonging to the sheikh are in the centre of 
the town, and round about are many excellent stone 
houses. A little Suk, or bazaar, with provision- 
stores, marks the place as one of importance. 

By my own estimate, checked also by the state- 
ments of the villagers, Tell esh Shehab contains 
135 houses, and a population that must number 
about 600 souls. Owing, however, to the peculiar 
position of the village, the population is more 
crowded together than is generally the case in the 
Hauran towns. The people are, as a rule, very well 
off. They possess fertile fields of corn, and have 
planted many orchards and vegetable gardens to the 
north, along the Wady el Bajjeh, where, owing to 
the abundance of water, the fruit trees flourish, 
supplying them with quantities of pears and apples, 
besides apricots, plums, etc., of most excellent 
flavour. 

The position of the village renders it a natural 



202 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



fortress, and as it is farther protected by being the 
residence of the two rich and influential sheikhs, 
Muhammed and Ahmed, Aulad Hashish el 'Abbas, 
the place is considered as a city of refuge for those 
who, on account of blood-feuds, have been obliged 
to leave their homes. An actual case of this came 
under my notice here. The Sheikh of Zeizun, who 
some time before had become mixed up in a blood- 
feud that had broken out with the Bedawin, was 
obliged, he and his family and all his relations, to 
abandon their property at Zeizun, and had come to 
live under the protection of the Aulad Hashish el 
'Abbas of Tell esh Shehab. Protection having been 
granted to them, some of the villagers of Zeizun 
in company with the Bedawin (one of whose 
relations had been the victim, and his death the 
cause of the feud), had declared war against the 
inhabitants of Tell esh Shehab, and several skir- 
mishes were the consequence. The inhabitants of 
Tell esh Shehab had hitherto been victorious, and 
only a few months before my visit they had suc- 
ceeded in driving back their enemies. But they have 
only retired until they can recruit their numbers, 
and will attack again when there is a better prospect 
of success. Being so strong, the villagers are very 
independent in their ways, and the two sheikhs 
above-mentioned are treated by everyone with great 
respect. Although one would think there ought to 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



203 



be ancient remains at Tell esh Shehab, I could dis- 
cover neither inscriptions nor carved stones, and the 
ancient materials must all have been built into the 
modern houses. The Arabic name Tell esh Shehab 
means merely 'the Hill of the Hero' or 'the Warrior,' 
but from its commanding position it must have been 
a place of importance in ancient times, and had 
probably some other name. 

Tell el 'Avar. — A village of moderate size, 7 miles 
east of El Mezeirib. Unexplored. The Tell el 
Khammdn, which lies 2 miles north of it, is a small 
village, and contains a Khudr, or Tomb of a 
Muhammedan saint ; it is also unexplored. Accord- 
ing to my theory we have here the home of Eliphaz 
the Temanite (see above, p. 179). 

Tell el Ash'ary. — An artificial hill, which rises above 
the plain to the height of about 80 or 100 feet. The 
village is built on the northern portion of the hill- 
summit ; on the south the ground is unoccupied 
except by a threshing-floor and some scattered ruins. 
The hill in its length lies from north to south ; and 
from the centre running south is a depression which 
divides the southern hill plateau into two shoulders. 
The village contains about fifty squalid huts, built 
partly of stone, partly of mud and straw. Many 
of these have already fallen in, and the place is 
evidently going to ruin. The population does not 
exceed 150 Muhammedans, some of whom are 



204 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



negroes who have migrated here from Sheikh Sa'ad ; 
the people are good-natured and hospitable, and 
very ready to give any information required. Round 
the southern and south-eastern foot of the hill are 
traces of a fortification wall, built of great basalt 
blocks. Above this runs a second wall, and a little 
below the summit again are traces of a third. They 
have all the appearance of a great antiquity, and 




Scale 



Fig. 105. 

have served to protect the north-eastern, eastern, 
and southern slopes of the hill. The western side of 
the hill falls so abruptly off into the Wady Ehreir 
(known also here under the name of Wady Tell el 
Ash'ary) that the almost perpendicular cliffs preclude 
the necessity of any artificial fortification. The 
village is reached by two steep paths which go up 
the eastern slopes, across the old walls and rubbish- 
heaps. Of ancient architecture the only remains I 
found was the capital of an Ionic column (Fig. 105), 
which was lying among hewn and unhewn building- 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



205 



stones on the eastern slope of the hill. The present 
village is modern, but it evidently occupies the site 
of a former town, which in its turn covered the 
remains of still earlier habitations. Near the base 
of the hill on the east is a large pile of weather- 
worn stones, crowning a round hillock. It is called 
by the villagers El Hummam and also El Mugharah, 
and was probably the site of an ancient temple. 
The ruin has the double name, they say, because in 
old days — being supplied with water from near the 
bridge of the Ehreir — it served as a bath, and hence 
was called ' El Hummam ;' but afterwards coming 
to be used as a mausoleum by the Caliphs of the 
Beni Omeiyah, whose treasures are still buried there, 
the people gave it the name of ' El Mugharah,' or 
'the Cave.' Not having been able to excavate, 
however, I was unable to ascertain whether there 
was any foundation of truth in this latter statement. 
Some hundred yards south of the mound a depres- 
sion in the ground is occupied by the Bahret el 
Ash'ary, 'the Pool of El Ash'ary.' It is a marsh in 
winter, and a perennial stream flows from it to the 
Wady el Ehreir, turning on its course the Tawahin 
el Biariat (mills). This Bahret is surrounded by 
scattered remains, as though it had formerly been 
bordered by buildings, and the ruins extend up to 
the foot of the hill of El Ash'ary. Here evidently, 
from its extent, must be the site of an ancient city. 



2o6 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN 



The stones are as a rule large in size, but among 
them are many small ones ; they are unhewn, and 
in the order still preserved the plan of former 
buildings can often be recognised. Near the 
northern border of the lake or marsh is found a 
monolith of basalt, which has the shape of an 
irregular pyramid ; it is about 7 feet high and is 

Monolitk of Basalt ul. fhe BaJiret eLAshkry 




5 feet square at the base (Fig. 106). On its 
southern side, and' facing the Bahret el Ash'ary, is 
cut an Arabic inscription, of which only the be- 
ginning is now legible. It runs : 

(' We testify that there is no God but Allah .... 
and His servants. Muhammad is the Apostle 
of Allah . . . . '), the remainder being totally de- 
faced. 

The extent of the remains proves that the ruins of 



WESTERN HA URAN. 



207 



Tell el Ash'ary must be the site of what was an im- 
portant city in ancient days, with an acropolis on the 
hill above, lying north of the town. Mr. Lawrence 
Oliphant has given it as his opinion that we have 
here the site of the Biblical Ashtaroth Karnaim 
(' The Land of Gilead,' pp. 88-96), a view in which 
I concur. The monolith bearing an Arabic inscrip- 
tion would go to prove that the spot was held 
sacred in Muhammedan times also ; a Moslem saint, 
as is so often the case, taking the place of the more 
ancient Phoenician Baal. Further, the name of El 
Ash'ary, which attaches itself to what is evidently 
the ruin of a large city, on the south of the Tell el 
Ash'ary, gives plausibility to its identification with 
Ashtaroth, and disposes of the objection thereto 
raised by Consul Wetzstein, who says that he found 
no ruins near here large enough to answer to the 
remains of so considerable a city. . 

The Tell, fortified by a triple wall and the natural 
cliffs, would have been the acropolis, containing the 
temple devoted to the worship of Ashtaroth, while 
the city itself occupied the land all round it on the 
plain below. The remains cover a considerable 
extent of ground, and the ruins of mills and canals 
can be followed nearly as far as El 'Ajamy, i\ miles 
away to the south-west. The traces of buildings 
show the general character of the old architecture of 
Hauran. 



2o8 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



A plentiful supply of water is found both on the 
plain and in the gorge of the Ehreir, which goes 
round the western foot of the Tell, the stream 
forming cascades between high perpendicular cliffs. 
I attach some importance to the fact that the 
present name bears the Arabic article ' El ' before 
the word ' Ash'ary ;' for I hold this indicates that 
the hill was named after some hero or god. The 
name of Tell 'Ashtarah (see below), 4 J miles to the 
north, being without article, this place is the less 
likely to be the ancient Ashtaroth, and it is in every 
way the inferior of Tell el Ash'ary in the size and 
extent of its ruins. Also the double peak of the 
southern summit of the latter hill, formed by the de- 
pression running from north to south, would make 
the appellation of ' Karnaim,' or ' Double-horned,' 
extremely appropriate, and this feature must have 
been still more distinct before the depression was 
filled in by the rubbish and detritus. Excavation 
on the summit and near the foot of the hill at the 
* Hummam,' or ' Mugharah,' would without doubt 
bring to light some remains that must definitely 
settle the question whether or not this be the site 
of the Biblical Ashtaroth. Tell el Ash'ary stands 
1,551 feet above sea; and on the 6th of Sep- 
tember the temperature in the morning, at 5.40, was 
55 Fahr. ; at 8.25 it was 75 ; and at 10 a.m., 84 . 
A little dew had fallen during the night, which had 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



209 



been very cold. The land round the ruins is free 
from stones, and the soil in the neighbourhood is 
extremely fertile. 

Tell 'Ashtarah. — This hill lies 4 | miles north of 
Tell el Ash'ary, and occupies an isolated position in 
the plain, with the plentiful stream of the Moyet en 
Neby Ayyub flowing round its base. Its summit 
rises to about 80 feet above the surrounding country ; 
the plateau on the top being smaller in extent than 
that of Tell el Ash'ary. This is now covered by the 
sheepfolds built out of the scattered stones that 
once belonged to the buildings of a small village. 
There are also traces of fortification surrounding 
the southern and south-western foot of the hill. 
Originally these continued round the whole eleva- 
tion, and included in their circuit a rectangular 
building which stands at the southern extremity of 
the Tell, near the plain. The stones are rude and 
large, similar to those at Tell el Ash'ary, and have 
every appearance of belonging to the same early 
period. The ruins, however, are not sufficiently ex- 
tensive to be those of a large city, and in general 
appearance, the remains at Tell 'Ashtarah are cer- 
tainly much less imposing than are those at Tell el 
Ash'ary. It is, however, not unlikely that here may 
have been the site of the Biblical city of Ashtaroth, 
which we know stood not far from Ashtaroth 
Karnaim. The small ruin of Khurbet en Nileh is 

14 



2io EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



seen in the plain a short distance to the south-west 
of the hill. 

Tuffas. — A village of some size, situated, like 
El Mezeirib, in a depression. It contains about 100 
stone houses, some of which are in ruins, and the 
rest are occupied by a population of about 250 
Muhammedans. In the extreme west of the village 
are the Medany and Jam'aah. The Medany 
(Fig. 107) is a tower 10 feet square at the base, and 




Fig. 107. 



about 50 feet high, still in tolerable preservation. 
It has two stories, with windows looking out on 
each side, those in the lower storey having pointed 
arches, while above the windows are square topped, 
with sides which are parallel with the outer walls, 
for the tower above has the form of a truncated 
pyramid. The roof is flat, and on it is a cairn of 
stones built up rudely without architectural finish, 
and apparently modern. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



211 



On the western side of the tower is the Jam'aah 
(Fig. 108), a rectangular building, measuring 46 feet 



from north-east to south-west, and 41 feet from 
north-west to south-east, with a sort of terrace of 
steps added to its north-western side, as in the 
Jam'aah at Ed Dera'ah. The paved floor of the 
Jam'aah lies 3 feet below the surrounding level. 
The roof is supported by three rows of columns, 
which are twelve in number : two columns in each 
row stand out in the floor, while the end ones arc 
built into the wall. Above the columns are round 
atches of 11 feet 10 inches span. The shafts of the 
columns have an average height of 5 feet, and 
sometimes double capitals and double bases, placed 
one above the other, have been needed in order 
to obtain the required height. From the floor 
to the spring of the arch is 9 feet 5 inches, and 




\ % % H 

\ % a a 




:<- 



Fig. 108. 



14 — 2 



212 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



this, with 5 feet 6 inches as height of the arch itself, 
and i foot for the stones above, gives a total height 
for the interior of the Janraah of 15 feet 11 inches 
(Fig. 109). The construction is very evidently 
modern, and every column has a different base and 



Arcades of JamaaK. 




Fig. 109. 

a different capital, and they are set up with no re- 
gard to architectural rule or symmetry. The mould- 
ings are Roman in style, but modified somewhat, as 
is always the case in the Hauran, and without doubt 
originally formed part of a Christian church. On 
one of the capitals as shown at A in Fig. 110, a 
peculiar eye-shaped ornament is found. The ceiling 
of the present Jam'aah is formed of basalt slabs. The 
whole construction has evidently been built during 
Muhammedan times from materials of an earlier 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



213 



date. In the north wall there is a square door, 
above which on the lintel is cut the beginning of a 
verse from the Kor'an : 



The remainder is now defaced. Steps lead from 
the exterior down into the mosque. There is a 



second door in the east near the tower, where there 
are still some traces of a courtyard. The whole 
building is in a good state of preservation, and is 
used for prayer. 

The sheikh's house at Tuffas, near the Jam'aah, is 
an ancient building, which, to judge by the large 
well-squared stones of which its walls are built, and 
the style of architecture of the southern facade, 
must originally have been a Christian church or 



. . . . dUUI dJI J 

. . ". . dUI Ju^> . . . . 



" There is no God but Allah . . . . 
.... Praise be to Allah . . . ." 




Fig. no. 



214 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



monastery. The centre building consists of a 
chamber about 18 feet square and 19 feet high, 
divided into two parts by a round arch very like 
that in the house of the sheikh at Sahem ej Jaulan 
(see p. 94). A door and two small windows occupy 
the south wall. On the face of every second 
voussoir of the arch (above the capitals of the arch 
pier) is a bas-relief of peculiar and original appear- 
ance. Thus on the west, one stone, 2 feet 4 inches 
wide and 1 foot 9 inches high, has an ornamenta- 
tion of vine branches, with the representation of 
an arcade in between (Fig. in) ; and on the stone 

Ornamented Arch Stones of Tuff as , SheikLis house 




FIG. ill. 



opposite, which is of the same size, are branches of 
a fig-tree, with a wreath (Fig. 112). The ceiling 
is carefully constructed of basalt slabs, supported 
on corbels. At the south-western corner the corbel 
has a large acanthus-leaf (Fig. 113) carved on it, 
which corresponds, as to position, with the arrow 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



215 



found cut in the corner-stone of the house at 
Sahem ej Jaulan (see p. 196). Right and left of 



the central chamber are others, now used for stables 
and for guest-rooms, but their walls are plastered 
and now so blackened with smoke that no orna- 
mentation is visible, even should any exist. Fig. 114 



shows the facade of the south wall of the central 
room just described, with its fine doorway. Remains 
of a flying staircase, the steps of which project 
from the wall, lead up to the flat roof. 

On the lintel and jambs of another door in the 




Fig. 112. 




Fig. 113. 



2i6 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



same wall, to the right of the above, are the orna- 
mentations shown in Fig. 115. 

Ancient remains 
on the Southern. fa.ce of the Sheikhs house 
at Tuffas . 




Fig. 114. 



The main building is surrounded by a yard, within 
which are several modern dwellings, occupied by 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



217 



the sheikh's Harim. Hewn stones are built into 
the walls, and doubtless many other ancient remains 
might be discovered were not the stones of the walls 




Fig. 115. 

concealed by being covered with plaster. A care- 
fully built gateway, surmounted by a large lintel 
block, forms the entrance into the yard from the 




Fig. 116. Fig. 117. 



east. In the yard lies a column with a base of 
Roman character (Fig. 116). In the north wall of 
a house is [a stone with a Greek inscription (Fig. 



218 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



117) ; and carved on the lintels over the two doors 
at this side of the building are the crosses shown in 
Fig. 118. The only building-stone used in Tuffas 
is basalt. Besides the ornaments shown in the fore- 
going figures, we found here and there in the walls 
of the houses many others, all of the same Roman- 
Hauran type ; and we often noticed when walking 
along the streets ancient walls still standing and 
built of hewn stones. The old town extended very 
considerably eastwards, as seen from the ruins, and 
their extent proves that Tuffas was originally a large 
city. On the north there is a natural birket or 
basin, called El M'asab, 50 by 25 yards across, 
which remains filled with muddy rain-water the 
whole year round. 



TawdMn el Arshediydt, Taw akin el Biaridt. — Corn- 
mills near Tell el Ash'ary. The stream, after leaving 
them, flows down the slopes of the Ehreir, and fosters 
a fine growth of cane-jungle. 

TawdMn Sabthah, T. el Wddy, T. ejjalufywa Zahzuk, 
and Tdhunet A bu Ddliyeh. — Corn-mills, situated on the 
slopes and in the Wady el Ehreir, near Tell el Ash'ary. 




WESTERN HAURAN. 



219 



The abundance of water in the wady, as well as on its 
upper slopes, gives the whole vicinity of Tell el Ash'ary 
a very green and agreeable appearance. 

Tdhunet Umm Bdbetn, Tdhunet es Sufukiyeh, Taw ahin 
el Mughr. — Corn-mills, turned by the powerful stream 
coming from the 'Ain Sufukiyeh, near the Wady ej 
Jebeleh, which lies on the eastern bank of the Nahr 
el 'Allan. These mills are of extremely primitive 
construction. Each grinding-stone, of basalt, occu- 
pies a small cavern reached by a single entrance — 
the Tahunet Umm Babein formerly had two gates, 
as its name implies — and these are so concealed by 
the jungle of cane as to be quite invisible at a short 
distance, unless attention be called to them. The 
water is conducted from above, passes through the 
jungle, disappearing and reappearing four separate 
times, working the mills, which are situated one 
below the other. The stream finally flows into the 
'Allan, at a point where a thick growth of oleanders 
and cane covers the slopes. 

Tdhunet el Midyab. — Two ruined mills, one at 
Taiyibet Lism, the other lower down in the Wady el 
Lubwah. They are the property of the powerful 
Midyab family of Nawa. 

Tell 'Atneidun el Fokdneh, the western, and Tell 
f Ameidun et Tahtdneh, the eastern, of a couple of 
isolated hills, lying between Tsil and Sahem ej 
Jaulan. On their summits are several large squared 



220 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



stones, apparently of great age, which are the re- 
mains of former buildings. 

TeU Buruh. — Scattered ruins covering a small hill 
in the plain, miles south-west of 'Adwan. 

Et Tireh. — A small ruined and deserted village. 
Its houses are built round a square, and are all of 
stone, some being still in a habitable state. Those 
on the west are more modern. On the other sides 
are numerous chambers, half subterranean, half 
above ground, very similar to those found at Khurbet 




Fig. 119. 



Samakh (p. 183), but smaller. They are from 
6 to 8 feet wide, and from 10 to 20 feet long; and 
the walls having been built without mortar, are now 
in many cases fallen in. In a kind of corridor which 
runs along the north side of the square, and also in 
some of the chambers, are seen mangers, similar to 
those found so often in Western Jaulan, and especi- 
ally in the underground city of Ed Dera'ah. They 
are built of stone, being 2 feet square and 2 feet 
high, and placed 2 feet above the ground, being 
separated one from another by an upright slab 
(Fig. 119). On the broken lintel of a square door, 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



221 



4 feet high, opening into one of these ruined and 
partly subterranean chambers, lying to the north [of 
the courtyard, was the following Greek inscription : 

J JJi NH JU "A € N A A 6 O NT 00 TT 0M aT^ 
)TrefTC0Nm(CONAN6Ne^C€N , u 'vJ 
. ePf- eiriCT- AKY.AINo Yo<t> 

^ ^ * 

FlG. 120. 

Et Tireh means ' the Castle,' and the name 
would lead one to conclude that the place, although 
now only tenanted by ' Ahseniyehs,' or Syrian foxes, 
must formerly have been a fortified town. There 
is a plentiful supply of water in the country round 
about, but as it forms marshes it renders the place 
unhealthy. 

fell es Seif. — A hill, a mile east of Et Tireh. 

Tell es Semen stands a mile to the south of this 
again. It is a larger hill than the Tell el Ash'ary, 
and has on it many stone sheep-folds among other 
ruins, but its summit is bare. Its slopes run down 
to the Wady el Ehreir. 

Taiyibet Lism. — The ruins are here piled up in 
disorder, as though from the effect of an earthquake ; 
there are the remains of a mill in the west, situated 
on the Wady el Lubwah. The stones found here 
are unhewn and very much weathered. The village 
must have been overthrown now many years ago. 



222 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



Tstl. — A large village, crowning an elevation, to 
the south of which are immense manure-heaps. 
The greater number of the houses, which are built 
of stone and mud, are now deserted and in ruins. 
About 90 are inhabited by a population numbering 
some 300 souls, exclusively Muhammedans. The 
arable land round Tsil is extensive, but in part not 
easily cultivated ; the tracts lying to the west and 
north being stony. On the north-west are some 
vineyards. Its only water-supply is derived from a 
pool 50 yards square, lying to the north, surrounded 
by rocks, and called ' El Birkeh.' In years of plenti- 
ful rainfall the Birkeh retains a supply of muddy 
rain-water all through the year ; but in dry seasons 
the inhabitants are obliged to go for their water to 
the 'Allan, which is two miles away on the west. 
A spring, which is the source of the stream in the 
Wady esh Shefeil, lies to the north-west of the 
village, and formerly gave a plentiful supply of water ; 
but of late years this has been constantly diminish- 
ing in volume, and at the present time gives but 
little water during the autumn months. Owing to 
this scarcity of water, the village, which in the begin- 
ning of the century was flourishing, is now in 
a decaying condition- The inhabitants in their 
manners are not unfriendly, but they are extremely 
apathetic, and neither threats nor promises will 
stir them up. The only brisk conversation is that 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



223 



heard among the women who go for water to the 
Birkeh. I was told that the people of Tsil were 
generally considered to be of a thieving disposition, 
and hence caravans avoid, if possible, passing the 
night here ; but I had no complaint to make against 
them on this score. A number of scattered ruins 
lie to the west of the town, also the large dolmen- 
fields which have been already described (see p. 149). 
In the interior of the village most of the relics of 
antiquity have been built up into the walls, and are 
now hidden by the plastering. They have here 
a superstition that the Fellah who gives any stone 
of a mosque to a foreigner will be punished for it 
by Allah, either by death or by a misfortune in 
his house ; and as they consider all architectural 
remains to have formed portions of old mosques, 
they decline to give any information about such 
stones unless they happen to be found in the sites 
of deserted houses. Exceptions to this rule exist, 
for some of the Fellahm are already, according to 
a German expression, * culturbeleckt.' 

The only buildings of interest and antiquity in 
Tsil are the Jdni'aah and Medany. They stand 
together near the sheikh's house. Entering the 
building (Fig. 121), broad steps lead down into a 
courtyard, which is 53 feet long and 31 feet broad, and 
of which the level is two yards below the roadway. 
It lies to the east of the Jam'aah. The walls ' round 



224 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



the courtyard are 3 feet thick, built without mortar, 
as is usual in Hauran. The basalt stone found here, 
also, is easily split, and does not need to be shaped 



with the chisel. In the south-east corner of the 
area is the Medany, a tower resembling the ones 
already described in the sections on Ed Dera'ah, 
Tuffas and Nawa. The plan is 9 feet 3 inches 
square, with a square doorway from the north. The 
walls slope inwards, as in the buildings before 
described ; but all the upper part is now in ruins, 
and the tower is only about 20 feet high. The 
peculiarity in the Medany of Tsil is that it is 
supported below, or rather is built, on three free- 
standing basaltic columns, each 5 feet high, 1 foot 
9 inches in diameter, and having capitals, but no 
bases. One of the columns further has two capitals, 
which are placed most incongruously one on the top 
of the other (Fig. 122). These columns must have 
come from a more ancient building, and were set here 




Fig. 121. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



225 



either at the time of the construction of the tower, 
or else have been placed as buttresses or supports 
under the walls of the Medany when it first began 




Fig. 122. 

to fall to ruin. Basalt slabs are laid across the 
tops of the columns, and on these the tower walls 
are built. Into the south wall of the court (at 




Fig. 123. 

A in the plan), the semicircular stone of a niche 
(Fig. 123) has been built, but this is evidently not 

15 



226 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



its original place. On its western side the court 
is bounded by the wall of the Jam'aah, which is 
entered through two doorways.. One of these (D 
in the plan, and Fig. 124), is 5 feet high, and on the 



Arcades of the JamaaK 




Fig. 124. Fig. 125. 



ground 3 feet 3 inches wide, but is 3 feet 1 inch 
only under the horizontal lintel, for the sides slope 
inwards. The second door is 3 inches wider. 
The Jam'aah itself measures 53 feet from north 
to south, and 40 feet from east to west. The 
walls are 2 feet 6 inches thick, and the roof is sup- 
ported by four rows of square pillars, four in the row ; 
of these eight stand free, and eight are built into the 
walls. They are spanned above by circular arches, 
and what may be called the nave is 11 feet 5 inches 
across, the eastern aisle being 9 feet 10 inches, and 
the western 9 feet 1 inch wide. The pillars are, as 
before mentioned, square, and measure on an 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



227 



average 1 foot 8 inches across by 2 feet 5 inches side ; 
while those which form pilasters project 3 feet from 
the walls ; they are 7 feet 4 inches high. The pillars 
all have square capitals, each one being different in 
shape and moulding from its neighbour (Fig. 125 a), 
and they are without bases. The pillars are not 
monoliths, but built up in several pieces. In many 
of them, in the stones forming the second drum 



Capitals of Aecade piers of Jam!aa£*, 




iz c o iVoot 



Fig. 125 a. 

below the capital (see Fig. 125) a space is left of 
the height of a course, and this varies from 2 
inches up to 1 foot 7 inches wide. The roof of 
the mosque is formed of rude basalt slabs, 6 and 
7 feet long, resting on corbels. In the southern 
wall is a niche (B in the plan, and Fig. 126) of 
rectangular plan, 6 feet 6 inches high, 3 feet 10 
inches wide at the bottom, and 3 feet 3 inches at 
the imposts. It is surmounted by a round arch, 
supported on a couple of pillars with square 
capitals. The niche is built in a very careless and 
rough manner. In the floor near it are two fine 
pillars with Ionic capitals (C, C in plan, Fig. 121, also 

15—2 



228 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAUR AN 



Fig. 127) which stand up above the rubbish some 3 
feet high, and formerly must have adorned the sides 
of a niche, the upper part of which was probably the 



Cohnrms C of the Jarnaah. 




Fig. 126. Fig. 127. 



stone built into the south wall of the courtyard (at A, 
and Fig. 123). The Jam'aah has small rectangular 
windows in the walls, 10 and 12 feet above the 
rubbish on the floor. There are two in the south 
wall, to the left of the niche, and another between the 
two doors on the east ; they are about 2 feet high 
and 1 foot 5 inches wide. The interior height of 
the Mosque from the rubbish on the floor to the 
ceiling, is 16 feet; it has been restored in its northern 
part, but although in better preservation than was 
any other Jam'aah that I visited, it is beginning now 
to fail to ruin. A stone carved with the Vitruvian 
scroll moulding is built into the eastern wall of the 
Jam'aah, and one bearing on it a curious pattern 
in relief, shown in Fig. 128, is found over the gate 
of the sheikh's house. The Jam'aah, which is of 
purely Moslem architecture, must have been raised 



WESTERN HA URAN. 



229 



on the site of some more ancient building, a church, 
or perhaps a synagogue, as there is no trace of cross 
or other Christian ornament to be seen. 

In the sheikh's yard we found a broken stone with 

Ornament on the gateway of the 
Sheikhs Tioixse. 




Fig. 128. 



part of a Greek inscription cut into it (Fig. 129); 
and also the drum of a twisted column in basalt 
(Fig. 130). Besides these fragments, we often 
noticed, in the yards of the other houses, large Ionic 



Column, in the 
Sheikhs house. 



1-6 



BoneeiKAf 
H TTPocTHeei 
i 




Fig. 129. 

capitals, now much weather-worn and defaced ; and 
interesting ruins are possibly buried below the 
dunghills, of which Tsil has such an abundance. 



230 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



Tsil lies 1,722 feet above the sea ; and on the 
morning of 12th September, 1884, at 5.35, the ther- 
mometer registered 62° Fahr., while at 10 o'clock it 
had reached 89 , for the hot wind was blowing. 

Tell ej JemvCah. — A well-cultivated hill, lying 
between Nawa and Tsil. Its summit is 2,024 feet 
above the Mediterranean, and rises about 350 feet 
above the plain ; it therefore commands an excel- 
lent view over the whole country — south, west, and 
east, as far as the Jebel ed Drus of the Hauran, 
and down to the hills of 'Ajhln, which are shut off 
by the wide Wady esh Shelaleh. 

A fertile valley slopes gently up to the Tell ej 
Jabiyeh from the Tell ej Jemu'ah northwards, and in 
the north-west extends to the Tell el Farras. The 
highest summit of the Tell ej Jemu^ah is that lying 
to the north. Its name, Tell ej Jemu'ah, signifies 
' the Hill of Meeting,' and is so called from it being 
the recognised battle-ground of the Bedawin (see 
above, 'Arab el 'Anazeh, p. 104). It marks also, 
roughly, the limit between the grazing-grounds of 
the 'Anazeh and the Nu'em tribes. 

Tell ej Jabiyeh. — The most conspicuous point 
in all the country round. It is a hill with two 
peaks the eastern and highest of which reaches 
an elevation of 2,322 feet above the sea. It 
commands a fine view over Northern Hauran and 
Jedur. 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



231 



Tellul el Hesh. — A range of volcanic cliffs, north- 
east of Nawa. 

Wddy el Meddan. — Dry in summer, but bearing a 
considerable amount of water in winter. The stream 
is said to rise in the Jebel ed Drus ; it passes El 
Yedudeh, where it is called the Wddy ed Dahab, and 
only takes the name of Wady el Meddan below this. 
It joins the Wady Tell esh Shehab. 

Wddy Khreiydn. — Runs dry in summer. It rises 
in the east of Hauran, and in winter feeds the 
Bahret el Bajjeh. A small bridge of modern con- 
struction crosses it, a little south of El Mezeirib. 

El Yedudeh. — A miserable-looking village, formerly 
of some importance, but now consisting of about 
forty huts, built of stone and mud, containing not 
above 150 inhabitants. In the south-western part is 
a small Jam'aah, now totally ruined and apparently 
not very ancient. The ceiling was originally formed 



of basalt slabs ; and these were supported on small 
columns, now prostrate, 1 foot in diameter, with low 
capitals worked to the shafts (Fig. 131). There are 




Fig. 131. 



232 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



also broken stone doors with stone pivots. North 
of the Jam'aah is a small square building, now also 
in ruins, apparently the lower part of a Medany, or 
tower. In its walls is an ornamented stone, which 



lintel of a door, El Yedudeh. 




Fig. 132. 

must originally have formed the lintel over a door 
(Fig. 132). Above the door of the Jam'aah, which 
is 3 feet 3 inches wide, is a slab 6 feet 6 inches long, 
bearing a peculiar leaf ornamentation (Fig. 133). 

Near the sheikh's house, to the north of the 
village, are strewn about many hewn stones of 




11-Ot 



Fig. 133. Fig. 134. 

basalt 6 and 7 feet long and 2 feet high, and some 
are built into the walls of the courtyard. Many of 
these are engraved with crosses (Fig. 134), and on 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



233 



others there is the Vitruvian scroll. One slab is 
8 feet long and 10 inches high, but now broken. 
It must formerly have been the lintel of a gate, and 
the hole for a stone pivot still exists in it (Fig. 135). 
From the style of the ornamentation, I conclude that 
a large Christian building must have existed here. 
The walls of the sheikh's dwelling are now plastered 
over, but if this coating were removed, without 
doubt other ornamentations, and possibly inscrip- 
tions would appear. The people are not very friendly. 
A short distance outside the village, to the north- 




Fig. 135. 

west, a dam is thrown across the Wady ed Dahab, 
by which the water from above was originally 
diverted into a Birkeh, or large basin, cut in the 
rocks. The dam itself, at its lowest part, is 8 feet 
6 inches wide, and above is 5 feet 3 inches across. 
It is built of stone set in mortar, large rude blocks of 
basalt being used, but it is now in ruin. A small 
channel still runs from the dam to the Birkeh, 
which is excavated in the live rock, being faced 
with masonry and plastered over, for the remains 



234 EASTERN JAULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



of the plaster are still found. The Birkeh is in 
the form of an irregular square, measuring about 
30 feet across, and is 23 feet deep. The channel ran 
into the basin from the west, and in places had to 
be supported by pillars. These are cut out of slabs 
of basalt, about 16 feet high, and 1 foot 5 inches 




Fig. 136. 

square, with a capital and a base. The Birkeh was 
originally covered in with basalt slabs, as is proved 
by the great amount of rubbish, consisting of por- 
tions of slabs and broken corbels, which now lies in 
heaps at the bottom of the basin ; and this roofing 
was supported by pillars similar to those before 
described, the fragments of which still occupy the 
centre of the basin (Fig. 136). As late as the 



WESTERN HA URAN. 



235 



month of August the Birkeh still holds rain- 
water. 

Yublah. — A deserted village consisting of unin- 
habited and partially ruined mud and stone huts, 
situated on the Wady Kefr es Samir, near the Ehreir. 
There are many modern and ancient buildings, and 
the village not long since must have been inhabited, 
and was evidently a place of some importance. At 
the present day the Bedawin use the huts as shelter 
for their flocks. 

Zeizun. — A village occupying the two sides of the 
Bahret Zeizun, which is formed by the Moyet Zeizun, 
where the waters spread out into a small lake. The 
northern quarter is situated on an elevation, and is 
the most important. To the north of this again 
there are gardens containing pomegranates, figs, and 
other fruit trees, which are irrigated from the Wady 
el 'Ajamy. Not long ago the village was in a very 
flourishing condition, but a blood-feud in which the 
sheikh was involved, the Bedawin being the offended 
parties, has forced many of the villagers, together 
with the sheikh and his relations, to flee for their 
lives to Tell esh Shehab (see p. 202). The present 
population consists of about 200 Muhammedans, 
some of whom are negroes, who occupy about fifty- 
five miserable huts, built as a rule of stone. 

The sheikh's house and courtyard, in the northern 
part of the town, is well built, but has now been 



236 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



left to fall to ruin. The villagers are timid and 
unfriendly in manner to strangers. Zeizun must 




Fig. 137. 

have been an important place in ancient times. 
There are remains of fine cornices, lying among 




Fig. 138. 



prostrate columns and Corinthian capitals, with the 
broken parts of rich entablatures, all apparently of 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



237 



Roman workmanship. Stones bearing on them 
Vitruvian scrolls and rosettes, exceedingly well 
carved, are to be found in many places, and are 
especially numerous in the bed of the stream. In 
the eastern part of the Bahret, where the Moyet 
Zeizun expands to a width of about 25 feet, and is 
about a foot deep, is an isolated column of basalt 




Fig. 139. 



(Fig. 137), which stands up vertically in the middle 
of the stream. It has a height of 19 feet, is square 
in cross-section, and is well cut. About its base in 
the stream are piles of large building-stones, also 
Roman cornices, fine Corinthian capitals orna- 
mented with the acanthus-leaf, and portions of 
columns, 1 foot 7 inches and 2 feet in diameter. 
The remains, which are all of basalt, would seem to 
have formed part of a Roman bath. There is no 
bridge across the stream, and the numerous frag- 
ments render the passage through the water some- 
what dangerous for animals. On the northern 
bank are found the slabs of a richly-ornamented 



238 EASTERN HAURAN AND WESTERN JAULAN. 



frieze (Fig. 138), and entablature with concave egg- 
shaped ornamentation (Fig. 139) ; also the upper 
part of a small pilaster in basalt (Fig. 140), the 
column of which is 8 inches in diameter, with a 




Fig. 140. 



pretty capital, now somewhat defaced. A little 
below the column which stands in the stream, and 
on the west, are traces of a building now entirely in 
ruins : its foundations are in the water, and it was 
probably a mill. Running from the upper or eastern 
part of the stream are aqueducts, well built, and 
rectangular in section, 2 feet 7 inches high, and 
1 foot 4 inches wide, and covered in with slabs of 
basalt ; these take the water to the southern part of 
Zeizun. On a lintel above the entrance of one of 
these aqueducts, which runs below a modern build- 
ing, is found carved a Greek inscription, shown in 
Fig. 141. The people of Zeizun assured me that 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



239 



these aqueducts run under all the southern half of 
the town, below the level of the houses, but that 
they no longer hold water. In this southern part of 
the village, and to the west and south-west, are con- 
siderable remains of ancient buildings. Beyond this 




Fig. 141. 

they form mounds, and cover the plain as far as 
the steep cliffs of the Wady Tell esh Shehab. The 
inhabitants had near here thrown away numbers 
of old copper coins, which were found among 
the ruins, ' because they would not pass for money 
at the Suk of El Mezeirib.' A search soon brought 
to light several ; they were all Roman, and had 
the appearance of dating from early Christian 
times. 

Across the stream, and in the northern part of 
Zeizun, two other Greek inscriptions were found, 
built into the gate of the sheikh's house or 



240 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



' Menzul,' they are evidently Christian (Figs. 142, 
143). The ruins known under the name of Beit er Ras 
have hitherto by archaeologists been identified with 

3T 




the site of the ancient Capitolias. I venture, however, 
to suggest that Zeizun more probably represents this 



^ at or eir^j p e o 




Fig. 143. 

lost capital. I am led to this opinion chiefly by 
the extraordinary quantity of rich Roman carvings 
found here, also by the considerable extent of the 
ruins, and the water-supply conducted through aque- 
ducts of Roman structure. The situation of Zeizun 
on, or rather very near, the Yarmuk or Hieromax, 



WESTERN HAURAN. 



241 



and just above a waterfall, agrees very well with what 
we know of the position of Capitolias. The question, 
however, would be set beyond a doubt were excava- 
tions possible. 



The foregoing pages give the information obtained 
during a survey of that part of the country lying to 
the east of the Jordan, which was formerly included 
in the limits of the half tribe of Manasseh. The 
positions laid down on the map were fixed by the 
theodolite ; and the villages and ruins were photo- 
graphed and sketched as thoroughly as the time at 
my disposal would permit. For the primary object 
of my visit to the country was not archaeological, 
but was connected with a survey for the line of rail- 
way to run from Haifa to Damascus, through the 
Hauran. The district, however, has now been 
mapped, and the ruins to some extent examined ; 
but I am far from wishing to convey the idea that I 
hold the country to be thoroughly explored, or that 
its ruins have all been examined. I have found 
on the occasion of subsequent trips into Hauran 
and Jaulan that I always gained some fresh in- 
formation, new names cropping up, and facts of 
interest coming to notice ; and the country is so 
rich in antiquarian and archaeological remains that a 

16 



242 EASTERN J A ULAN AND WESTERN HAURAN. 



survey to be thoroughly exhaustive would in truth 
occupy many years. I trust, therefore, that other 
occasions may arise which will give me opportunities 
for again visiting this interesting region. Mean- 
while, in closing the present report, I beg to throw 
myself on the indulgence of my readers for the 
defects of style, and for such faults of composition 
as occur in its pages, for my work has been per- 
force written in a language which, though familiar 
to me, is not my own. 

G. Schumacher, C.E. 

Haifa, 1885. 




Scale of Miles 
1 j o 1 2 3 4- 5 



Q.A.,del. 



E.WeVer. 



A TRIP 

TO THE 

NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN 
JAULAN. 

By Laurence Oliphant. 

The examination of the country to the east of the 
Jordan is, under existing conditions, attended with 
so much difficulty that I was glad to seize an oppor- 
tunity which fell in my way of paying a visit to 
the northern and eastern shores of the Lake of 
Tiberias, and penetrating a short distance into Jau- 
lan, with the view of visiting certain localities, where 
I had reason to believe that some ruins existed which 
had hitherto escaped observation. I was unfortu- 
nately prevented by circumstances from devoting to 
them the time and labour which they deserved, and 
in more than one instance, where it would have 
been interesting to linger, was compelled to hurry 
past places, with the mental reservation that I would 
endeavour to return, at some future time, for a more 
detailed examination. 

I commenced my investigations immediately on 

16—2 



244 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN JAULAN. 



crossing the Jordan, at the point of its debouchure 
into the lake. Here, at a distance of half a mile 
east from its mouth, are situated the ruins of El 
r Araj, which consists of foundations of old walls, and 
blocks of basaltic stone, cut and uncut, which have 
been used for building purposes. The ruins cover a 
limited area. A little over a mile north of El 'Araj 
there rises from the fertile plain of El Batihah a 
mound strewn with blocks of stone, and other remains 
which cover a considerable area. This is Et Tell, a 
spot which it has been sought by more than one 
traveller to identify with Bethsaida Julias. I will not 
do more than touch here on the much-vexed question 
of whether there were two Bethsaidas, as insisted 
upon by Reland and many others, or only one. The 
question is, whether 'the desert place apart,' at which 
was performed the miracle of the five loaves and the 
two fishes, was on a desolate spur of the range im- 
mediately to the north of this Tell, which would 
necessitate two Bethsaidas ; or whether it was, as 
Dr. Thomson supposes, at the north-east corner 
of the lake on the shoulder overhanging Mes'adiyeh, 
upon which assumption he constructs a theory 
which would involve only one Bethsaida ; or finally 
whether, as suggested by Captain Conder, the 
Sinaitic Manuscript may not be right in omitting 
the definition (Luke ix. 10) of the desert where the 
5,000 were fed, as ' belonging to the city called 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 245 



Bethsaida,' in which case the necessity for a second 
city of that name ceases to exist, and the miracle 
may have been performed in the plain at the 
south-east of the lake. It is possible that excava- 
tions at Et Tell might enable us to decide positively 
whether or not it is the site of Bethsaida Julias, which 
we know was in this vicinity. A small native village 
has been built among the ruins, which do not at pre- 
sent afford to the passing traveller any indications of 
former magnificence ; but I was unable at the time 
to examine them, as I was desirous of pushing on 
without delay to a spot where I was informed by a 
Bedawin sheikh who accompanied me from El 'Araj, 
that the fellahin, in the course of getting out stone 
for constructing some houses last summer, had laid 
bare many stones on which were carvings and 
pictorial representations. After following the course 
of the Jordan, on its east bank, for another mile, we 
reached a spot on the barren slope of a hill a few 
hundred yards from the river, where some native 
huts had been recently built. Here large cut stones, 
carved cornices, capitals, and fragments of columns 
were strewn in profusion, while from the midst 
of them rose the walls of what appears to me to have 
been a synagogue. Owing, however, to a later super- 
structure having evidently been reared upon the 
original foundation, I feel somewhat diffident in 
pronouncing decidedly upon this point. I will, how- 



246 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 



ever, state my reasons for coming to this conclusion, 
while the accompanying sketches of the ornamenta- 
tion I found here, may enable others, more competent 
to form an opinion than myself, to judge of their 
origin. The dimensions and ground-plan of the 
building with the columns still in situ closely re- 
sembled those of the small synagogue at Kefr Birim. 
The length was 45 feet, the breadth 33 feet. The 
building had an east and west orientation, and the 
door was in the centre of the wall on the western 




Fig. 144. 



side. This does not, so far as I know, occur in the 
case of any synagogue hitherto found ; but it was 
doubtless due to the necessities of the case, as the 
site for the building was excavated from the hill-side, 
the floor at the east end being about 9 feet below the 
surface of the earth at the back of the wall, while the 
slope of the hill would have made it inconvenient to 
place the door, as usual, on the south side. A more 
serious objection to this being a synagogue lies in 
the fact that the stones were set in mortar, which 
does not occur in the case of other synagogues ; but 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 247 



there were indications to show that these walls had 
been erected upon older foundations. They were now 
standing to a height of 8 feet. There were neither 
door-posts nor lintel to the entrance. The floor, 
which was thickly strewn with building-stones, frag- 
ments of columns, and of carved cornices and capitals, 
was below the level of the ground, and was reached 
by a descent of two steps ; while opposite, running 
along the whole length of the eastern side, were two 
benches or steps, the face of the upper one being 




Fig. 145. 

decorated with a thin scroll of ornamental tracery, 
and these may have served for seats. The depressed 
floor and stone benches are both features which occur 
in the synagogue at Irbid. Upon the upper bench 
stood the fragments of two columns about 4 feet in 
height, and 1 foot 2 inches in diameter. They were 
evidently not in situ, being without pedestals, and I can 
only account for their being in their present position 
on the supposition that they had been placed there 
recently. Two other columns standing in the area 
did appear to be in situ, but their bases were 



248 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 



much hidden by the blocks of stone heaped on the 
floor. These blocks in size averaged 2 feet 6 inches 
by 18 inches. The capitals of the columns were 
in Corinthian style, 2 feet 3 inches in height, 
and were ornamented with a double row of leaves, 



differing somewhat from the usual acanthus, and 
apparently of a later and more composite order. The 
ornamentation and character of the niches (see Figs. 
145 and 146) so closely resembled that found at the 



synagogue at Kerazeh and elsewhere (being of the 
same florid and somewhat debased type), that they 
seemed to me to set at rest the question of the 
original character of this building, though subse- 
quently it may have been diverted to other uses. Time 




Fig. 146. 




Fig. 147. 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 249 



did not allow me to do more than make rough 
drawings of the ornamentation, but I trust these 
will prove sufficient to enable a comparison to be 
made between them and other specimens found in 
the engravings given in the ' Memoirs.' If I am 
right in my conjecture, this synagogue would 
probably date from about the second century of the 
Christian era. I also found a stone which consisted 
of the upper portion of two small semi-detached 
fluted columns with Doric capitals, almost exactly 



similar to the one found at Irbid. There was also a 
block cut into a round arch, which may have been 
placed over the door, like the arch on the lintel 
over the entrance to the great synagogue at Kefr 
Birim. It measured 39 inches across the base 
(Fig. 147). A most interesting object was a winged 
female figure, holding what was apparently a sheaf 
(Fig. 148). The ornamentation of the cornice does 




Fig. 148. 



250 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 



not resemble any which I have found illustrated in the 
1 Memoirs ' or elsewhere ; it is not unlike the so-called 
egg-and-dart pattern (Fig. 149). Other specimens of 




Fig. 149. 

the ornamentation are seen in Fig. 150. I have not 
been able to form any conjecture which should 




Fig. 150. 



identify this most interesting spot with any Biblical 
or historical locality. Its modern name is Ed-Dikkih, 
meaning ' The platform,' a name not inappropriate 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 251 



to its position. It is possible that during the next 
dry season the natives may continue their excava- 
tions, as stones are needed. I urgently impressed 
upon them the iniquity of defacing or destroying any 
remains that may be unearthed ; but they seemed 
unable to perceive any good to them in carved 
stones, and watched my proceedings with an un- 
easiness and suspicion which I am afraid a gratuity 
failed altogether to dispel. 

We now pursued an almost due easterly direction 
along the lower flank of the range which rose abruptly 
on our left, and after a mile and a half reached a 
spring and the remains of a small ruin called Umm 
el 'Ajaj. There seemed, however, to have been only 
two or three houses here, and finding nothing of 
interest we pushed on, and reached in half a mile 
more the ruins of El Hasaniyeh. Here again I was 
fortunate in coming upon remains which have been 
exposed to view for the first time by the natives this 
year. 

The portion excavated was not so extensive, nor 
did it reveal so much that was interesting, as at 
Ed-Dikkih, but the area covered with ruin was 
greater, and it was in ancient times probably the 
centre of a larger population. The character of the 
remains now exposed to view is very difficult to de- 
termine, owing to the confusion which has been 
created by their belonging to two periods, the build- 



252 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 



ing of the later having apparently been placed 
diagonally on the one that preceded it. They were 
situated upon a terrace of solid masonry about 5 feet 
high, now strewn with building-stones. The upper 
or more recent chamber measured 20 feet across one 
way, but there was nothing to determine its length, 
no walls having been left standing ; the dimension 
in one direction, however, could be gathered from 
the cement floor which still remained, a consider- 
able portion of which was visible at a depth of 18 
inches below the surface of the earth. There ap- 
peared, 18 inches below this again, a floor of solid 
stone, and this was evidently a portion of a building 
of some size, to judge from the blocks of stone which 
apparently were the foundations for the pedestals of 
columns. These consisted of five cubes of stone, each 
measuring 2 feet every way, and 6 feet apart. As the 
stone floor on which they stood was 3 feet below the 
surface of the ground, their upper surface was 1 foot 
below it, and there may therefore have been more in 
continuation of the line in which they stood, which 
the excavations of the villagers had not yet revealed. 
The rows ran north and south, and diagonally to the 
upper flooring of cement. There were some frag- 
ments of columns, pedestals, and carved cornices 
and capitals lying among the ruins of the vicinity, 
but they were much broken, and not sufficiently 
noteworthy to stop to sketch. 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 253 



I had, unfortunately, no time to carry out my 
original intention of following up the Wady Ed 
Dalieh, two miles higher, to El Yahudiyeh, where 
ruins are reported to exist ; but I was assured by the 
sheikh that there were no remains such as I had seen 
at Ed-Dikkih and El Hasaniyeh, and we crossed the 
plain back to the coast where the ruins of Mes'adiyeh 
still remain to suggest the similarity of the name to 
that of Bethsaida, which may furnish an argument 
for its identification. Nothing definite, however, 
can be proved without excavation ; but enough 
remains to show that the head of the lake must in 
old times have been a great centre of population, 
since the towns near it stood only one or two miles 
apart, and I have heard of more ruins in the neigh- 
bourhood, which I hope at some future time to have 
an opportunity of examining. 

As some confusion exists in all the maps, to which 
I have had any access, in the nomenclature of the 
five wadies which intersect the country between the 
Jordan and the Wady es Samak, I have been very 
particular in obtaining the names as accurately as I 
could from the best native sources. Of these the 
Wady Jeramaya is the most wild and inaccessible, 
and, except for the sportsman — it affords excellent 
cover for the large game which are said to abound 
in it — would probably not repay examination ; but 
the same cannot be said of the other wadies, and 



254 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 



especially near their heads, I have reason to believe 
unexplored ruins are still to be found. 

Following the lake shore, we passed at the mouth 
of the Wady Shukeiyif the ruins of El 'Akib ; these 
consist of nothing but heaps of basaltic stones. There 
is near here a spot marked ' ruins ' in some maps, 
and called Dukah ; they are also mentioned by more 
than one traveller. I found on inquiry, however, 
that a projecting cliff near El 'Akib was called the 
Dukah Kefr 'Akib, or the precipice of 'Akib, and this 
has doubtless given rise to the confusion. A mile and 
a half beyond El 'Akib we turned up the great wady 
of Es Samak. It is up this fertile valley, watered by 
a perennial stream, and which is in places two miles 
wide, and about seven miles in its greatest length, 
that it is proposed to carry the projected railway 
from Haifa to Damascus, as it affords an easy 
gradient from the depressed shores of Lake Tiberias 
to the elevated plateau of Jaulan ; the rise in that 
distance being a little over 2,000 feet. As we 
ascended, I observed that only quite the lower strata 
are of limestone ; all the rest is basaltic, and this 
formation is of vast thickness. The whole of Jaulan 
is indeed an immense volcanic field, consisting of 
irregular heaps of amorphous lava and disintegrated 
scorise, with mounds of globular basalt. 

After ascending the wady for three miles we 
reached, a little below the margin of the plateau on 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 255 



the right side, the ruins of El 'Adeseh, but it hap- 
pened to be so dark at the time that I could not dis- 
tinguish more than heaps of stones, and I had no 
opportunity of returning to it. 

The country is very sparsely peopled in the district 
of Jaulan in which we now were, one of the largest 
villages being that of El 'Al, occupying the site of an 
ancient ruin ; but the place has been so much built 
over that little can be made out, though in the walls 
and yards of the houses are many vestiges of antiquity. 
In the stable of the house in which I lodged was a 
column in situ standing to a height of 6 feet, and in 
the yard a draped female statue, life-size, in three 
pieces. The feet, which as far as I could judge were 
on a pedestal still in situ, were partially covered with 
earth ; the rest of the figure, which had been sepa- 
rated from them at the ankles, was lying on the 
ground ; the head had also been separated from the 
body ; but each of the pieces was in good preserva- 
tion. The left arm clasped what appeared to be a 
quiver, from which I gathered that the statue may 
have represented the Goddess Diana. An inscription 
would probably be found on the pedestal settling this 
question, but circumstances prevented my excavating 
sufficiently to find out whether or not this was the case. 

My objective point was now Khisfin, a village lying 
five miles distant in a north-easterly direction, which 
has played so important a part in the history of the 



256 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS , IN J A ULAN. 



country that I was extremely anxious to investigate 
the ruins which exist there, and which have never been 
the subject of examination. After riding for an hour 
we came to the ruins of Nab, situated on a small 
mound. They consist of blocks of basalt building- 
stone, with traces of foundations, many fragments of 
columns and capitals, and a tank, dry at the time of 
my visit, but which evidently holds water for some 
portion of the year ; it had apparently been much 
deeper at a former period, only the two upper 
courses of masonry being now visible. It was oval 
in shape, and measured about 60 yards by 30. A 
little off the road to the right stands a large tree on 
a mound, which is a conspicuous object on the vast 
plain, and is called Ez Zeituneh, or the hill of the 
olive-tree. In half an hour more we reached Khisfin, 
which is a large village for this part of the country, 
the houses constructed entirely of the hewn stones 
which here cover a greater area than any ruins which 
I have hitherto visited in this neighbourhood. 

The earliest notice which I have been able to 
obtain of Khisfin is that of Yakubi, about goo a.d. 
He mentions it as one of the chief towns of ' the 
Province of the Jordan,' Syria being divided in his 
day into three provinces, viz. : the Province of 
Damascus, the Province of the Jordan, and the Pro- 
vince of Palestine. Yakut in the thirteenth century 
mentions it as a town of the Hauran district below 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 257 



Nawa, on the Damascus road, between Nawa and 
the Jordan. Khisfin was doubtless at one time a 
fortress of the Saracens, as it is further mentioned 




Fig. 151. 

as the place to which Al Melek al 'Adil (Saladin's 
son and successor) fled after having been routed at 
the battle of Baisan by the Crusaders, who advanced 

17 



258 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 



upon him from Acre. As it is mentioned as being 
one of the chief towns of the province so long ago 
as 900 a.d., it is probable that its importance dates 
from a much older period, as indeed was indicated 
by the character of some of the ornamentation which 
I found there. That it must also have been an im- 
portant Crusading stronghold is evident from the 
leading characteristics of the remains, as they now 
appear, and of the ornamentation, of which I give 
specimen sketches. 

The walls of the principal fort now standing 
measure 68 yards one way, by 54 the other. They 
are 9 feet in thickness, and are eight courses of stone 
in height, the stones being from 1 foot to 1 foot 6 
inches square, but some are much larger. Within the 
fort are the traces of a second or inner wall forming a 
sort of keep in the centre, but the whole area is so 
encumbered with ruin that it would require more 
time than I was able to give to it to make accurate 
measurements, and a plan of the building. The 
village had almost the appearance of a quarry, so 
thickly piled were the blocks of hewn stone which 
enclosed the courtyards and formed the walls of 
the houses, while they were strewn, or stacked in 
heaps, over all the neighbouring fields. The lintels 
of the doors of the modern huts consisted frequently 
of large stones, some of which possibly had served 
the same purpose in old times, and on these were 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 259 



tablets, rosettes, crosses, bosses, and other crusading 
devices. 

I now proceeded in a westerly direction, and after 
two miles reached the ruins of Esfera, a mound 
covered with the usual hewn basaltic stones, among 
which are traces of foundations. Two miles farther 
on was the conspicuous hill of Tell el Muntar, which 
is also strewn with ruins of the same character; but 
at neither place did the remains present any marked 
interest : they indicated, however, the presence in 
ancient times of a large population in this section 
of country. Just to the south of Tell el Muntar we 
came upon a dolmen field — I counted twenty grouped 
in a comparatively limited area, averaging perhaps 
a hundred yards apart. Some were composed of 
three side stones with a covering slab, and in most 
cases these were ' free standing.' In some the super- 
incumbent slab rested upon four uprights, and in 
others upon heaps consisting of large blocks of stone. 
In no case did I observe the covering slabs to be so 
large as I have seen them elsewhere, probably owing 
to the weight of the basalt of which they were com- 
posed; but circumstances prevented my giving these 
interesting monuments, upon this occasion, the atten- 
tion they deserved, and I was compelled to be 
satisfied with having discovered their locality. In 
support of Captain Conder's theory, it may be 
interesting to note that they were situated near 

17 — 2 



260 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN JAULAN. 



water, as I shall presently show, and upon the verge 
of a precipitous ledge of rock which here forms 
the eastern cliff of one of the branches of the Wady 
es Samak, from which a magnificent view is obtained. 
The plateau here forms a promontory which splits 
the wady, and at its southern extremity is situated 
the old stronghold of the Crusaders, called the Kasr 
Berdawil, or Baldwin's Castle. I saw the ruin from 
a distance, but was unable at the time to visit it. 
This I the less regretted as it has already been 
examined, and the small crumbling ruin which 
remains offers nothing of interest. On the other 
hand, I was impatient to reach a ruin hitherto un- 
known, and which was situated directly beneath the 
upper ledge of rocky cliff down which we were now 
leading our horses at no little peril to life and limb. 
After descending abruptly about 500 feet we came to 
a broad shelf, or small cultivated plateau, beyond 
the edge of which there was another steep descent 
to the bottom of the wady. It was upon this shelf 
that the ruins of Umm el Kanatir, or the ' Place of 
Arches,' is situated. It may have derived its name 
from the first object which met our view, as, turning 
sharp to the right under the impending cliff down 
which we had just scrambled, we came upon a 
most singular and picturesque spot. Here were two 
large arches, one partially ruined, but of which the 
abutments were still plainly visible projecting from 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 261 



the rock against which it had been built, the other 
in a perfect state of preservation. This measured 
23 feet in span, 6 feet 6 inches in depth, and 
16 feet in height. The ruined one was probably of 
the same dimensions, but as it was mostly broken 
away there was no means of accurately judging of 
it. The arches had been built over a crystal spring, 
the waters of which still filled the small tank (23 feet 



1* 6 




Fig. 152. 



long and 6 feet wide, with a depth of 2 feet of water) 
under the perfect arch, and contained many small 
fish. It apparently escaped by an underground 
channel. Over the centre of the arch was a large 
slab of stone, upon which had been an inscription 
now too effaced to be legible, and as it was 16 feet 
overhead I had no means of examining it closely. 
At a slab at the side of the spring was a stone on 



262 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 



which was the carved figure of a lion (Fig. 152), and 
in front the wide-spreading arms of a magnificent old 
tree offered a grateful shade. At the time of year 
during which I visited these springs, however, it was 
not possible justly to appreciate its charms; a bitterly 
cold wind was blowing, accompanied by sleet, and I 
had, just before arriving at the dolmen field, under- 
gone an experience which made the task of a minute 
examination of ruins or dolmens in an easterly gale 
of wind unpleasant in the highest degree. When 
allowing my mare to drink at what seemed a puddle 
on the plateau, she had made a step forward and 
plunged head-foremost down what turned out to be an 
overflowed well (the 'Ain Esfera), with me on her back, 
and we had some difficulty in extricating ourselves. 
The severity of the cold wind was so much intensified 
by my drenched condition, that, not being in very 
good health also at the time, I was compelled some- 
what to hurry over my examination. Other ruins are 
situated about 50 yards from the arches, to the north, 
and consist of ruined walls enclosing an area of 
apparently nearly the same dimensions as the 
synagogue at Ed-Dikkih ; but the foundations of the 
western wall were concealed by such piles of large 
blocks of building-stones that it was impossible to 
make any measurements. The southern wall was 
standing to a height of about 7 feet, and consisted of 
three courses of stone, averaging a little over 2 feet 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 263 



each in height, by about 2 feet 6 inches in breadth. 
The door was situated 15 feet from the south-east 
angle of the wall, and was 4 feet 9 inches in width ; 
the stones forming the door-post were carved in low 
relief with a plain moulding (Fig. 153). On enter- 




FiG.153. 

ing, the area presented a mass of stone debris, with 
columns, and pieces of carving, tossed about in the 
wildest confusion ; six columns from 10 to 12 feet in 
height rose above the piles of stone in slanting posi- 
tions, as though they had been partially overturned by 



264 NORTHEAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 



an earthquake ; and the shaken condition of one of 
the stones which formed the door-post, and which 
projected from the others (see Fig. 153), as well as 
the general aspect of so much of the ruin as was still 
standing, confirmed my impression that the building 
had been destroyed by a convulsion of nature. It was 
difficult under the circumstances to determine the 
true position of the columns, or the exact plan of the 
building ; but the character of the fragments of or- 
namentation which still remained, the fact that the 




z tt 

Fig. 1 54. 



columns were all within the enclosure of the build- 
ing, that the walls were without cement, together 
with the position of the door, and the moulding 
of the door-posts, all lead me to a conclusion, with 
respect to this building, identical with that arrived 
at in the case of Ed-Dikkih, namely to regard it as 
having been originally a synagogue. There was one 
stone on which was carved the representation of 
an eagle (Fig. 154) ; also a fragment of egg-and-dart 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 265 



cornice, closely resembling one at Ed-Dikkih. On the 
ground lay a large triangular slab cut in the shape 
of a semicircle and highly ornamented (Fig. 155), 
measuring 3 feet 6 inches along the base-line, and 
5 feet 8 inches between the two extremities. This I 
assume to have been placed over the lintel of the 
main entrance ; and scattered about were fragments 
of Corinthian capitals. 

It is highly probable that a careful investigation 
of these stones would reveal inscriptions which might 




Fig. 155. 



throw some light on the date of this interesting ruin. 
During my hurried inspection, I was in no position 
to make excavations, and these notes are simply a 
description of what I was able to observe, under 
circumstances by no means favourable to minute 
investigation. It is not impossible that I may be 
able again to visit this part of the country, and I then 
shall hope to supplement the details here given of 
the ruins, as well as examine others of the position 
of which I received information. 



266 NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J" A ULAN. 

On my return to Tiberias, a Jew came to tell me 
that he knew a house which contained a stone upon 
which there was an inscription. I found it in the 
floor of a tumble-down dwelling inhabited by an old 
Jewish woman. As it was too begrimed with dirt 
to make anything of, I tempted the old woman with 
a bribe to let me carry it off to my lodging, promis- 
ing to return it. The inscription turned out to be 
in Greek characters; and as it may have escaped 
the attention of former travellers, I have given in 
Fig. 156 the copy of a paper squeeze that I made of 
the stone. 

Yn€P€YXAPICTIACA|Sii§ 
YH M 0) N C 1 PI Kl OV^H 
V ' NAnAICAMCNOIHMI WSMS 
OI9P€BOICOYANHriPAMe|i 

Fig. 156. 

I was also taken by a Jew to look at a stone built 
into the back wall of the synagogue, on which was 
another inscription. He told me that he had seen 
some foreigners take a squeeze of this, and I there- 
fore only made a rough copy in pencil, thinking it 
probable that it would be found in the ' Memoirs.' 
As, however, on returning home I found that this 
was not the case, I presume it must have attracted 
the notice of some later traveller, and hence if still 



NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS, IN J A ULAN. 267 



unpublished that my copy (Fig. 157) may prove of 
interest. 

oYArin 

TA 6TH '0£ 

IpOMHNAAeN 

iiflNZHCACAN 

HISJKBNYNWHN 

Fig. 157. 



A RIDE 

THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA 
DURING THE AUTUMN OF 1884. 

By Guy le Strange. 

We left Nazareth on the morning of the nth of 
November, making a late start, and the sun was 
already two hours on its course before we lost sight of 
the white houses of Nazareth and rode down through 
the ravines into the plain of Esdraelon. Pella was 
to have been the end of the first stage, but the sky 
clouding up and threatening a deluge, even before we 
had passed the villages of Nain and Endor, it 
seemed hopeless to attempt getting across the 
Jordan that day. Lunch was discussed on the 
green bank of Goliath's river, the Nahr Jalud, 
which runs into the Jordan after watering Beisan ; 
and we then walked our horses through the ruin of 
the beautiful Saracenic Caravanserai, overhanging 
the stream, known as the Khan el Ahmar, or ' the 
Red.' But an hour later, while passing through the 
squalid village of Beisan, and casting a hurried 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 269 



glance at the imposing and widespread ruins of 
the ancient Scythopolis of the Decapolis, the 
threatened rain came in torrents, and the sky 
giving sure tokens of something more than a passing 
shower, at 4 o'clock it was determined to seek 
shelter and a night's lodging in the hospitable tent 
of an Arab whom we found camped, below, in the 
valley of the Jordan. 

For about ten hours the rain continued with but 
little abatement, soaking through the hair walls, 
dripping from the roof of our host's abode, and 
further causing the sheep and goats to be disagree- 
ably anxious to participate with us in the com- 
parative shelter which the same afforded. However, 
by a couple of hours past midnight the sky was 
again clear, and I may add that during the re- 
mainder of the trip as far as Jerusalem, the state of 
the atmosphere was everything that could be de- 
sired. The late autumn in Palestine, as a season 
for journeying and exploration, has perhaps some 
advantages over the spring, if only the traveller be 
sufficiently fortunate to happen on the six weeks or 
two months which generally intervene between the 
early autumn showers and the steady rains of winter. 
These last do not, as a rule, begin much before 
Christmas. In the autumn, the land, parched by 
the summer heats, is of course less green and 
beautiful than in the early days of spring ; but, on 



270 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 

the other hand, ruins are no longer concealed by 
over-luxuriant vegetation, and since .the coolness of 
the weather renders a shortened halt at noon a 
matter of no inconvenience, the traveller can devote 
to the business on hand all the hours of daylight, 
which even at this season can be counted upon as 
lasting from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

The Bedawin are of course early risers, and we, 
their guests, had in consequence no difficulty in 
getting early into the saddle, so that before the sun 
had made its appearance above the mountains of 
'Ajlun we were riding eastwards over the fertile lands 
of the Ghor, the Arab name for the mighty ' cleft ' 
through which the waters of the Jordan pour. At 
the present day the country all round Beisan, though 
partially cultivated, and fetching a certain price in 
the market, is not to compare for productiveness 
with the description that has been left to us of its 
fertility in the century preceding the arrival of the 
Crusaders. Mokaddasi,* writing about the year 
1000 a.d., describes Beisan at his time as being rich 
in palm-trees, and informs us that all the rice used 
in the provinces of the Jordan, and of Palestine, was 
grown here. At the present day no rice is cultivated 
anywhere in this neighbourhood, nor, as far as I 
know, in any other part of Palestine, and the palm 
has long disappeared from here, as also from the 
* Edited in Arabic by M. J. de Goeje (Leyden, 1877), p. 162. 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 271 



shores of the Sea of Tiberias, where, according to 
the geographer above quoted, in his days ' all around 
the lake were villages and date-palms, and on the 
same sail-boats coming and going continually.'* 

That the bygone prosperity might easily return to 
this country, should circumstances (i.e., the Govern- 
ment) again become propitious, was an idea that im- 
pressed itself on us, each moment the more, while 
riding over the rich soil, and fording at every 
hundred yards the streams which here intersect the 
Ghor. An abrupt descent brought us in the course 
of an hour to the Jordan, at a ford where the water 
scarcely reached the bellies of our horses, and we 
had the luck to be guided to the right place by three 
of our hosts of the previous evening, who, mounted 
on their wiry, bald-tailed mares, and armed with the 
long Arab lance, had turned out to accompany us 
during the first few hours of the way. Across the 
Jordan in a hollow was an encampment of black 
tents, tenanted by kinsmen of our host of last 
night, and here we were condemned to waste a 
precious hour while coffee was prepared and cere- 
moniously drunk, followed by a light repast of bread 
and sour milk ; hence it was past nine before the 

* Op. cif., p. 161. A few stunted palms are, however, still to 
be seen at Kefr Argib and elsewhere on the shores of the lake 
(see J. Macgregor, ' Rob Roy on the Jordan,' 1869, pp. 325, 329 ; 
also, ' Recovery of Jerusalem,' p. 367, in Captain Wilson's article 
on the Sea of Galilee). 



272 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



ruins of Pella were reached, although these lie but an 
hour distant from the spot at which we had forded 
the river. As Mr. Selah Merrill very justly observes 
in the work which, unless I am misinformed, is, as 
yet, the sole fruit of the American Palestine Explora- 
tion Society, ' Tabakat Fahl is a beautiful location 
for a city, and the wonder is that it should have been 
forsaken.' Even after the long summer drought, 
the springs gushing out among the broken columns 
and ruins of former splendour are abundant enough 
to make fertile all the neighbouring land, which, 
situated on the upper level of the Ghor, and 250 feet 
below the sea, enjoys, perhaps, the finest climate, 
from an agricultural point of view, that can be found 
in Syria. 

That the Arab name of Tabakat Fahl, ' the Fahl 
Terraces,' represents the ancient Greek Pella there 
can be little doubt. Dr. Robinson, who was the 
first to make this identification,* is no mean authority; 
and further, Mr. Merrill, after meeting the various 
objections which may be urged against this present 
site, clinches the argument by bringing together a 
mass of evidence in favour of this being the ancient 
Pella of the Decapolis, giving citations from the 
works of Josephus, Eusebius, Stephanus of Byzan- 
tium, and others, who treat of the early topography 



* ' Biblical Researches,' 1852, p. 322. 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 273 



of Palestine.* It may be of some interest to add 
that though the site, to all appearance, was centuries 
ago abandoned by the Arabs, it is renowned in the 
early Moslem chronicles as the field of the great 
' Battle of Fahl,' which, six centuries after Christ, 
sealed the fate of Byzantine rule in Syria. t Accord- 
ing to the annalist Tabari, this celebrated victory 
was gained in the year 13 a.h.,J and the geographer 
Yakut states that the Greeks left 80,000 dead on the 
field. 

In the first decades of the Christian era, Pliny, 
describing Pella, notes its abundant water-supply, 
and in the Talmud this city is mentioned under the 
name of Hamtha (or hot baths) of Fahal.§ At the 
present day, however, the springs, though abundant, 
apparently are not thermal. We found them icy 
cold, and perfectly sweet, and on this point it may 
be added that the Arab geographers never note 
them in their enumeration of the numerous Ham- 
mams of the Jordan Valley. Neglecting the Greek 
name Pella, the Arabs, according to their wont, re- 
vived the older Semitic Fahal, which they pro- 
nounced Fahil or Fihl. It is of interest here to 

* 'East of the Jordan/ by S. Merrill (London, 1881), pp. 442- 
447- 

t G. Weil., ' Gesch. der Chalifen/ i. 40 et seq. 
% Ed. Kosegarten, ii. 158. 

§ Tal. of Jerus. ' Shebiith,' vi. 1. See Neubauer, 'Geogr. du 
Talmud,' p. 274. 

18 



274 A RIDE THROUGH "AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



note that Yakut, in his ' Geographical Encyclopaedia,'* 
after stating the correct pronunciation of the name 
to be ' Fihl,' continues, / I believe this name to be of 
foreign origin, since I do not recognise in it the form 
of any Arab word.' And that this Pella was the 
place which witnessed the Moslem victory over the 
Greek forces, is placed beyond a doubt by the further 
statement that ' the battle of Fihl, which took place 
within the year of the capitulation of Damascus, is 
likewise known under the appellation of the Day of 
Beisan,'-)- and from Beisan, on the right bank of the 
Jordan, we had ridden in a couple of hours. 

Pella, or Fihl, must have fallen into ruin very 
shortly after the Moslem conquest, as is proved by 
the absence of all Saracenic remains among those of 
the Byzantine epoch which cover the ground in all 
the neighbourhood of the springs. A like fate also 
befell most of the great Greek cities over Jordan, as, 
for example, Gerasa (Jerash) and Philadelphia (Am- 
man), where we find little that is Moslem among much 
that recalls the Christian times. A few generations 
later, after the third century of the Hejra, the very 
name of Fihl ceases to be mentioned in the itineraries 
and town lists of the Arab geographers, and neither 

* ' Mo'jam-al-Buldan' (Leipzig), iii. 853. 

t Quoted also by the author of the ' Marasid-el-Ittila ' (ed. 
Juynboll, ii. 336), whose work is a critical abridgment of Yakut's 
Encyclopaedia. 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 275 



Istakhri, Ibn Haukal, nor Mokaddasi (himself a 
Syrian) take any notice of the place ; although, in 
a.h. 278, one of the earliest of their geographers, 
Yakubi, considered it a place of importance, for in 
his summary of the cities of the military province of 
the Jordan (Jund al Urdunn), after describing such 
towns as Acre and Tyre, he mentions* together 
Tibnin, Fihl, and Jerash, adding that ' the popula- 
tion inhabiting these towns is of a mixed character, 
part Arab, part Foreign ' (al 'ajam), by which last 
term, if I am not mistaken, we are to understand the 
native Greek-speaking Christians who had not been 
displaced by the immigrant Arabs. Fihl, or Tabakat 
Fahl, as the place is now called, having thus been 
left undisturbed for nigh a thousand years, would 
doubtless yield a rich archaeological harvest to any- 
one who could spend some days among the ruins, 
and carefully examine the very large number of 
broken cornices and other carved stones which lie 
about on every hand. Considerable remains of 
buildings also, that were once adorned with columns, 
surround the spot where the springs gush Out from 
the hillside. 

Although the Jordan Valley is elsewhere parched 
after the summer droughts, the Fihl Gorge was a 
mass of waving green reeds, reaching higher than a 
horseman's head, and almost completely masking 
* ' Kitab-al-Buldan/ ed. Juynboll, p. 115. 

l8—2 



276 A RIDE THROUGH "AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



from view the ruined edifices which lay partially 
submerged in the running water. Near what must 
have been a bath — judging from the large piscina — 
stood a fine monolith in white marble, above 8 feet 
in height ; and among the reeds, a score of yards 
further down, and nearer the north bank, were two 
columns, rising, each of them, over a dozen feet out 
of the pool in which they stood. But nowhere did 
we notice inscriptions. The great centre of popula- 
tion would seem to have been upon the hillside over- 
hanging the right or northern bank of the stream. 
Here there are traces of a large necropolis with in- 
numerable sarcophagi lying about on every hand. 
In most cases these last have been smashed by 
iconoclastic treasure-seekers, but some few remained 
almost intact, displaying the Christian emblems 
beautifully carved in the white stone. One in par- 
ticular was noticeable from its great artistic merit. 
The lid of the sarcophagus was still perfect, adorned 
with three wreaths chiselled in high relief, and be- 
tween them, in monogram, the ' an< ^ ^ e J ^" 00 ' 

but with no further inscription. Traces of buildings 
and half-buried columns lie in profusion to the 
south of the necropolis, on the slope overhanging 
the green gorge where the stream gushes out, while, 
doubtless, the precipitous hill which shuts in the left 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 277 



or southern bank of the wady would repay a more 
detailed examination than any which has as yet been 
bestowed upon it. Digging would naturally be most 
desirable here, but much that is interesting might 
easily be brought to light by anyone who would come 
armed with a crowbar, and give himself the trouble 
of turning over the drums and the cornices which, to 
all appearances, have lain in their present position 
since the days of the Arab invasion ; and greatly do 
I regret that, in our hurried visit, I had not the 
tools with me nor the leisure-time that was required 
for a detailed examination of this little-visited 
ruin. 

The road from Fahl to 'Ajlun runs along the steep 
north bank of the Wady Fahl, going east-north-east 
up into the plateau overhanging the eastern limits of 
the Jordan Valley. For the first mile the wady is 
narrow and precipitous, and the road, a mere path, 
winds among cliffs, a hundred feet above the dry 
torrent-bed ; but after passing a curious gap, where 
two giant boulders, on projecting spurs, have the 
appearance of watch-towers, the gorge widens and 
bifurcates, the road taking the branch gulley leading 
east-south-east. Since Mr. Merrill has laid such 
stress on his discovery, in these parts, of the Roman 
road running between Pella and Gerasa,* referred to 
by Eusebius, and which the American archaeologist 
* Op. at., 357, 445- 



278 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



regards as a final proof that Fahl is Pella, I was 
naturally on the look-out for traces of the same in the 
Wady Fahl. It is a disappointment for me to have 
to confess that though evident remains of a paved 
causeway are found in several places on the uplands 
above, yet here in the wady itself no traces could be 
discovered of cuttings in the cliff-side. I therefore 
conclude that the road must have approached Fahl 
(Pella) down some other gulley. 

Three-quarters of an hour after leaving Fahl we 
had reached the upland rolling-plain, intersected in 
every 7 direction by shallow ravines, and dotted with 
scrub oak. Before us, in a south-easterly direction, 
rose the mountains of Gilead ; to the right, less than 
a mile away, and due south, was the village of Kefr 
Abil ; while on the left, at a distance of a mile and 
a half, on a low spur, appeared Beit 'Adis. Skirting 
the heads of three small wadies which lead down to 
the Jordan Valley, our road took a southerly direction 
for a couple of miles over the barren upland, after 
which suddenly the path plunged down off this up- 
land into the precipitous gorge, which is an upper 
arm of the Wady Yabis. On the height, with a path 
running up to it from the gorge, lies the village of 
Kefr Abil above mentioned, and before leaving the 
upland plateau, on the very brink of the wady, our road 
passed through remains of former habitations, rendered 
the more noticeable by several large square tanks, 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 279 



cut in the living rock, and measuring, roughly, 10 feet 
long by 8 wide. These were now filled up with mould 
so as to be flush with the surface, and must have 
been constructed to serve as vats for oil or wine. 
The workmanship was assuredly ancient, and such as 
to do honour to the skill and perseverance of the 
stone-cutters of Palestine. The wady down which 
the road passed, turned off upwards into the hills in 
a north-easterly direction, while towards its outlet it 
ran for more than a mile due south, with many smaller 
wadies coming into it from the east. In this upper 
part both the main wady and its tributaries were, at 
this season, completely dry, but the banks showed clear 
traces of the rush of spring freshets. The road was 
down in the bed of the wady, and we followed it for 
about a mile before turning to the left into a green 
valley leading up in a south-easterly direction, where 
nestled the village of Jedeidah surrounded by olive- 
trees and gardens. The natural beauties of this dell, 
the distant clatter of the two mills which were churn- 
ing the waters of the brawling stream, the well-tilled 
fields^ and the succulent grass that covered the slopes 
on every hand, invested Jedeidah with all the at- 
tributes of a rural paradise ; and it being now past 
midday, we proceeded to recruit exhausted nature 
with certain of the contents of our saddle-bags, while 
the nags lunched, even more sumptuously than we, 
on the fresh grass of the brook-side. 



28o A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



This I judge to be the main stream of the Wady 
Yabis, although not so marked on the maps of this 
district, which are all remarkably deficient and in- 
exact. A villager whom I questioned was ambiguous 
in his account ; but I gathered from him that, after 
passing Jedeidah, the stream makes a bend at right 
angles, going about a mile. down the wady due south, 
then turns west again, and forcing its way through the 
mountains, comes out into the Jordan Valley at the 
spot where the name Wady Yabis is marked on the 
maps. Much of this we noted while following the path 
which led away in the opposite direction, for scram- 
bling up the high spur overhanging the left bank of 
the stream, we proceeded nearly due east into the 
mountains, along the ridge which forms the southern 
boundary of the little valley where we had made the 
noontide halt. The wadies here begin to be dotted 
with scrub oak, through which, after riding for a 
short hour, we came into the olive-groves surround- 
ing the hamlet of Urjan. There is collected in this 
village a population apparently too numerous for the 
accommodation provided by its houses. More than 
half of the inhabitants have turned the caves, which 
honeycomb the rocks, into habitations, and thus 
manage to provide themselves with all the comforts 
of a home in the bowels of the earth. For the most 
part these caverns would seem to be of artificial con- 
struction, having squared windows and doors, with 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 281 



properly situated smoke-holes ; very awkward, how- 
ever, are these for riders, and into them several times 
it was difficult for me to prevent my horse from 
precipitating himself. These tenements would doubt- 
less prove worthy of investigation by anyone who, 
more fortunate than myself, should have leisure to 
overcome the inhospitable shyness of their present 
occupants, and have the good fortune to gain 
admittance to these Troglodyte harems. 

Beyond Urjan may be said to begin the forest of 
'Ajlun. At first the hill-slopes, and further on both 
the torrent-beds and the ridges, become clothed 
with oak-trees, averaging 30 to 40 feet high. In 
the spring-time, doubtless, the ground would be 
covered with grass and weeds ; but now, in the late 
autumn, nothing was to be seen under the trees but 
bare rocks : still, from the thickness of the forest and 
the low sweep of the branches, a horseman ten yards 
ahead was generally completely hidden from view. 
For a mile beyond Urjan the road keeps along the 
southern slope of the valley under the trees, leading 
steadily upward and crossing the entrances of many 
smaller dells, till finally it turns up one of these latter 
in a direction south-west-by-south, and round the 
upper end gains the summit of the ridge, whence a 
lovely view is obtained through the oak openings 
back over the Jordan Valley towards the Dead Sea. 
A little further on along the ridge, and about three- 



282 A RIDE THROUGH AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



quarters of an hour after leaving Urjan, we passed a 
large circular hole in the ground, some 6 feet across, 
opening down into an immense cistern, now partly 
choked with rubbish, but of which the bottom was 
still 20 feet from the surface of the ground. It 
appeared to be bottle-shaped within, as are most of 
the cisterns in Palestine. In a southerly direction 
not far from its mouth, under the trees, were traces 
of ruined walls, but I was unable to obtain from the 
guide any information as to the name by which the 
place was, or had formerly been, known. 

Our road still lay along the ridge in a south- 
easterly direction, with the broad wady on the left 
hand, down which, and behind us, lay Urjan, while 
on the right we were continually passing charming 
glades where the oaks ever and again give place to 
bay-trees, and betwixt their branches a rider obtains 
picturesque glimpses over the well-wooded hills to 
the south-west. It was up one of these glades, or 
rather forming the background of an upland plain 
closed in on either hand by dark green mountain- 
slopes, that we first caught sight of the Castle of 
Rabad, crowning a hill-top about three miles away, 
bearing south-south-west. From this point, which 
is rather more than an hour distant from Urjan, a 
direct road, said to be very stony, leads to the 
Kasr er Rabad straight up this plain. It was, how- 
ever, now past three o'clock ; and the days being 



A RIDE THROUGH AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 283 



short, we decided to push straight on to the town of 
'Ajlun, our night-quarters, and put off visiting the 
castle till the morrow. We therefore turned up the 
hillside to the south-east, and on the brow first 
caught sight of the town far below us, at the junc- 
tion of three valleys, embowered in gardens, its 
minaret and walls already gilded by the rays of the 
setting sun. An hour's scramble, first round the 
shoulder of the hill and then over into the valley 
which comes down on 'Ajlun from the north, 
brought us to our destination ; and for the last two 
miles the road lay through a succession of vineyards 
among the rocks, where the vines, whose leaves the 
autumn had turned to ruddy gold, stood clear out 
against the darker shade of ancient olive-trees. The 
distance we had travelled perhaps lent a false en- 
chantment to the view; but whether or not this be 
the cause, 'Ajlun has a place in my memory as one 
of the most beautiful and fertile regions that I visited 
in Palestine, bearing comparison even with those far- 
famed villages which are watered by the rivers of 
Damascus. The little town is situated at the junction 
of three valleys, one coming from the north, down 
which had been our road ; another coming from the 
west, blocked a couple of miles distant by the spur, 
crowned with the Castle of Rabad ; while opposite 
is the valley leading up almost due east on the road 
to Suf and jerash. The place contains a mosque 



284 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



with a tall square minaret, of fine workmanship built 
of yellow stone ; and this last recalls so strikingly 
some 1 campanile ' in the plains of Lombardy, that I 
am inclined to suppose we have here the relics of a 
Christian church, dating perhaps from Crusading 
times. The town has an abundant supply of water 
from a spring which gushes out, not far from the 
mosque, under an archway of ancient masonry, which 
rises among ruins of columns and cornices. Modern 
'Ajlun is, however, but an unpicturesque collection 
of mud hovels, where the homestead generally con- 
sists of an agglomeration of windowless cabins, 
surrounding a dung-heap. 

In one of these cabins, having accomplished, by a 
bribe, the ejection of the host's family, we proceeded 
to take up our night's quarters, and made an excel- 
lent dinner off the mutton and rice that had been 
originally prepared for his own household. It then 
became a burning question to my two companions 
whether the hospitality, which they in turn were 
forced to offer to the fleas, would allow of their 
enjoying the solace of undisturbed repose. For 
myself, I was happy in being above such considera- 
tions. For, during a late trip across the Hauran, 
sundry insects pervading the guest-chambers of my 
Arab hosts, having kept me for three successive nights 
without closing an eye, and further observing myself 
under these circumstances to be rendered incapable of 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 285 



archaeological research through physical exhaustion 
brought on by ceaseless scratching, I had, this 
journey, brought in my wallet a small string- 
hammock. Now the den in which we were quartered 
had, like most Arab cabins, square ventilation-holes, 
left under the rafters on either side below the ceiling ^ 
Through two of these holes, from without, I found I 
could manage to push the straight stems of a couple 
of long logs of firewood, in such a manner that the 
ends protruded very appropriately within, like pegs 
standing out from the opposite walls of the room ; 
while the logs were jammed and prevented from 
being drawn completely through the holes, by the 
gnarled and branched portion that remained with- 
out. Having thus got my pegs inside the room, I 
proceeded to sling the hammock from them, about 
a yard and a half above my friends and the fleas, 
and enjoyed thereby undisturbed repose during the 
night, having first been duly admired by the whole 
population of the village, who, during a couple of 
hours, were admitted in rotation to rejoice their 
eyes at the unaccustomed sight of a Frank tucked 
up in a hammock. 

The next morning, the 13th of November, we 
were up betimes, and after a thimbleful of coffee 
rode up, going almost due west, to the KuPat er 
Rabad, and reached it in a few minutes over the 
half-hour. From the Arab geographers quoted on a 



286 A RIDE THROUGH >AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



previous page, I have been unable to obtain any 
information as to the early history of this splendid 
fortress.* Raised on foundations that would appear 
to date from Roman days, its bastions and walls 
bear silent witness to the energy and skill of the 
Crusading Knights who, during their two-century 
tenure of the Holy Land, erected this stronghold 
beyond the Jordan to hold the country of Moab and 
Ammon in awe. The view from its battlements is 
grand beyond the power of pen to describe. Look- 
ing west, the long valley of the Jordan, from the 
Lake of Gennesareth to the Dead Sea, lay spread 
out at our feet, with the winding river-course 

* KuPat or Kasr er Rabad may be rendered ' Castle of the 
Suburb.' I find no mention of the place in the works of Yakubi, 
Ibn Haukal, Istakhri, Mokaddasi, or Yakut, neither does the 
name occur in Ibn-el-Athir's voluminous chronicle. The place 
is not noticed among the Crusading Castles of Palestine by 
G. Rey in his ' Monuments de l'Architecture Militaire des 
Croises en Syne.' Burckhardt, who visited 'Ajhln during his 
travels, and found the fort occupied by a garrison, writes 
('Travels in Syria,' pp. 266,267) that he saw Arabic inscriptions 
(presumably on the slab in the wall, the one that I was unable 
to reach) which proclaimed that the castle was built by Saladin. 
Also in Abu-l-Feda's Geography, a work of the fourteenth cen- 
tury of our era, it is stated (p. 245 of the Arabic Text) that the 
Castle of 'Ajlun was built by 'Izz-ed-Din Osamah, one of Saladin's 
famous captains. An examination of the building, however, its 
style of architecture and its general plan, would lead me to doubt 
the purely Saracenic origin of this magnificent fortress ; and 
I feel sure that portions at least of the building must date 
from an age long anterior to the time of Saladin or the First 
Crusade. 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 287 



glittering among the green brushwood, its surface 
already gilded by the beams of the rising sun. 
Beyond and for a background were the mountains 
of Samaria, while on either hand lay the well- 
clothed hills of 'Ajlun, now bronzed by the late 
autumn, and giving back a sheen of almost metallic 
lustre under the level rays of sunlight that were 
pouring over them. Eastward at our feet rose up 
the town of 'Ajlun, nestling at the bifurcation of the 
valleys, in its gardens and vineyards ; and beyond, 
some three miles off, white in a green garland, was 
'Ain Janna, a village on the road to Jerash. The 
castle itself crowns a knoll, and is surrounded by a 
deep moat, dug out of the rock. Its vaults and halls 
are certainly some of the finest existing in Palestine, 
the masonry equalling that to be seen at 'Athlit, on 
the sea-coast above Caesarea, which is always quoted 
as one of the most remarkable of Crusading ruins. 
Kusr-er-Rabad amply deserves a more extended 
examination than any that has as yet been accorded 
to it. As I have noted above, the foundations 
of the building would appear to date from Roman 
days, for on many of the stones used in the lower 
walls eagles are carved, in low relief, which seemed 
to me of earlier workmanship than the tenth cen- 
tury. On the left of the gate-house high up in 
the wall is a tablet bearing an Arab inscription, 
which I was unable to come near enough to read. 



288 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



As my readers will easily believe, round and about 
these old walls, thus perched on the mountain-top as 
a landmark to all the Jordan Valley, and concerning 
the men who first constructed its dungeons and wells 
and dark passages, there was an amount of mystery 
that it would have been most fascinating to have 
made some attempt at penetrating, had the time 
permitted of a detailed exploration. But that night 
we were bound to sleep at, or beyond, Jerash, and 
therefore, after but a hurried visit, we most reluc- 
tantly left behind us Kasr-er-Rabad, and returning 
through the town of 'Ajlun, rode on up the valley 
eastwards, towards 'Ain Janna. 

On the right bank of the bed of the brook up 
which lay our path, and five minutes after leaving 
the last houses of 'Ajlun, is a low cavern, used by 
the natives as a stable for their cattle. As far as 
we could see, it contained neither inscriptions nor 
sculptures ; and though originally, doubtless, natural, 
it had been artificially enlarged for the convenience 
of the beasts, being in most places upwards of 6 feet 
in height, and running deep into the hillside for a 
distance that we estimated at somewhat less than 
50 yards, thus affording a large area under cover, 
that was at the present moment much encumbered 
with all sorts of refuse. The distance of about 
a mile and a half which separates 'Ajlun from 'Ain 
Janna is almost entirely planted with olive-trees, 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 289 

from which the fruit had now (November) lately 
been shaken ; and in the market-place of the latter 
village we passed three huge caldrons filled with 
crushed berries, set in a little water to simmer over 
a slow fire, this being one of the methods of extract- 
ing the oil. Beyond 'Ain Janna the road still con- 
tinues straight up the valley almost due east, and, 
on the northern hill-slope about half a mile from the 
village, passes beside a couple of rock-cut tombs in 
the cliff overhanging the bed of the stream, the second 
of the two still containing a broken sarcophagus 
which is without ornamentation. A short distance 
beyond these we came on the source of the brook, 
where it wells up from a hole under a rock in the 
middle of the valley. The stream runs down from 
here through 'Ain Janna, and even at this season 
suffices to water all the lands between it and 'Ajlun. 
Above this, although no water was visible, oak-groves 
of considerable extent lay on every hand, and the 
path, after traversing a rocky glen where the branches 
of the trees almost met above our heads, came to a 
more open space where, at a couple of miles above 
'Ain Janna, the road to Irbid and Suf bifurcates. Of 
these two we followed the latter, bearing slightly to- 
wards the right and in a southerly direction, through 
park-like glades, and in half an hour reached the 
saddle which forms the watershed between the valleys 
of 'Ajlun and Suf. At this point a fine view was 

19 



290 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



obtained over the way before us, running through 
the broad valley winding down towards Jerash in a 
direction a little south of east. The ground about 
here was dotted with oak-trees and scrub, but the 
growth became smaller and the clumps more sparse 
the farther we left 'Ajlun behind, till at last, near 
Suf, about three miles from the saddle, the trees 
had disappeared almost entirely. Before reaching 
this village, the valley narrows to a gorge shut in 
by white chalk cliffs, and the track, after climbing 
among those which overhang the ravine to the 
south, leads suddenly down on the squalid cabins of 
the hamlet. 

The Sheikh of Suf has so evil a reputation among 
travellers both for cupidity and insolence that, it 
being yet an hour to luncheon, we decided on hurry- 
ing on without paying him a visit ; but that we did 
not make some acquaintance with the people of this 
village was subsequently a cause of regret to me, 
when I heard that they held in their hands many 
coins and antiquities, these being brought to them 
for sale by the Circassians who are colonizing Jerash. 
There were, in particular, rumours of a pot, said to 
have been dug up in this neighbourhood, and re- 
ported to have contained countless gold coins of 
large size, which same had not all, as yet, been 
delivered over into the hands of the officials of the 
Ottoman Government, to whom all treasure-trove 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AfLUN AND THE BELKA. 291 



is lawfully due. The finding of hoards is by no 
means a rare occurrence in Palestine, where the 
people have at all times been their own bankers, 
and have ever preferred confiding their hard-earned 
gains back to the bosom of Mother Earth, rather 
than entrust them, for safe keeping, to friends in 
whom they could place no trust, knowing well that 
they themselves, in the like position, would, with- 
out a question, deem it imbecile to be fettered by 
any shackles of honesty or honour. 

The road from Suf to Jerash has been so well 
described in guide-books as to need no detailed 
notice here. For the most part the path follows 
the hill-slopes on the southern side of the broad 
shallow wady which runs down in an easterly direc- 
tion till it joins that of Jerash, which is a valley 
coming in from the south. Shortly after leaving 
Suf, far down to the left of the road and on the 
northern hill-slope, a ruin was pointed out to us by 
our guide which time did not permit of our visiting ; 
but as he assured us that it was the remains of some 
ancient edifice, it may perhaps repay the examina- 
tion of some future traveller with leisure at com- 
mand. Even before reaching Suf, as noticed above, 
the aspect of the country had changed. The thick 
oak-forest, which is so characteristic of the 'Ajlun 
hills, had been replaced by single stunted trees, 
pines, and scrub oaks, dotted sparsely over the hill- 

19 — 2 



292 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 
_\ 

sides ; beyond Suf, the slopes became almost bare, 

and in all the country to the east and south of 

Jerash the land is for the most part treeless, and 

only an occasional pollarded oak cuts the sky-line 

of the hill-top. 

Riding across the hills from Suf, Jerash becomes 

visible from the village of Deir-el-Leyyeh, a couple 

of miles from the ancient city, which is seen spread 

out below, in a broad valley, running north and 

south. From this upper point, where at a hole in 

the rock there is a spring, all down the road lie 

fragments of sarcophagi and carved stones, showing 

how extensive must have been the suburbs and 

necropolis of the Roman city. The ruins of Jerash, 

or Gerasa, have been too often described to require 

more than a passing notice in these pages. At the 

time of our visit the Circassians had possession of 

the place, but had fortunately taken up their abode 

on the left bank of the stream, where the ruins are 

comparatively insignificant ; and as yet they had not 

begun to interfere with the magnificent theatres, 

colonnades, and temples crowding the right bank, 

and which are, Palmyra perhaps excepted, the most 

extensive and marvellous remains of the Grseco- 

Roman rule in Syria. The prosperity of the town, 

despite its fine situation and plentiful water-supply, 

diminished considerably after the expulsion of the 

Byzantines. The locality is mentioned by Yakubi, 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AfLUN AND THE BELKA. 293 



a couple of centuries after the Moslem conquest, 
as being in his time one of the towns of the Jordan 
province; and the poet Al Mutanabbi, who flourished 
at the Court of Baghdad, and wrote panegyrics, 
devotes some lines to the praise of the fertility of the 
Crown domains at Jerash. Yakut, in the thirteenth 
century, a.d., who had not himself visited the spot, 
writes that it is described to him as 1 a great city, 
now a ruin, . . . through which runs a stream used 
for turning many mills. It lies among hills that are 
covered with villages and hamlets, and the district 
is known under the name of the Jerash Mountain.'* 
But except for incidental notices, if I mistake not, 
the city is rarely mentioned by the subsequent Arab 
geographers and historians. Whatever may have 
been the original cause of its depopulation, it is very 
remarkable how little the ruins of Jerash up to 
the present day have been disturbed. Fortunately 
there never was any great Moslem city in its neigh- 
bourhood, hence its columns remain in situ, or, 
thrown down by the earthquake, lie along the 
ground; while the stones of the great Temple of 
the Sun and of the theatres have nowhere been 
pilfered for building material. Further, since in 
these regions there is no sand to drift over and veil 
the outlines, and the frequent drought preventing the 
ruins from becoming masked by vegetation, all that 
* Op. tit., ii. 61. 



294 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



remains stands out, white and glaring, in noontide, 
presenting that same appearance of recent desola- 
tion which is so striking a characteristic of the 
freshly cleared streets of Pompeii. 

After lunching on the bank of the stream, among~ 
the gigantic oleanders that, still in November, were 
covered with delicate pink flowers, we passed the 
afternoon riding about, and examining the ancient 
city, but combined archaeological investigations with 
the keeping of a good look-out against prowling 
Circassians, and at sundown proceeded out of the 
southern gate, past the circus, now a meadow, and 
through the fine Triumphal Arch at the town limit. 
Here, turning to the left, we crossed the stream at the 
mills, and began to climb the conical hill on which 
stands the Moslem village and sanctuary of Neby 
Hud, where it was determined to claim for our- 
selves hospitality, and safe night-quarters for our 
horses, against the thievish propensities of the 
Christian Circassians. 

The view from this high point is extremely fine, 
and embraces all the valley and ruins of Jerash 
looking north. While the guest-room was being 
swept out, the elders came round and discoursed on 
their grievances, against the Government in general, 
and their new Circassian neighbours in particular. 
These last are a thorn to the Moslems in their 
agricultural operations, and further debar them 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 295 



from seeking for treasure among the vaults and 
cisterns of Jerash, a city built, as one of the 
sheikhs was good enough to inform me, by his own 
ancestors, the 'Adites, of the Days of Ignorance. 
After supper till near midnight had we to listen 
to and discuss politics with these worthy people, 
among whom the arrival of a traveller is a rare 
accident ; and we three being Christians and they 
Moslems, points of religion were often incidentally 
touched upon, to the exceeding happiness of our 
Arab guide, who was a red-hot Protestant and 
polemic. Despite religious differences, however, 
we remained excellent friends, and ultimately all 
slept together in the guest-chamber, the party con- 
sisting of our three selves, the sheikhs, and the 
children. During the night an occasional dog 
chased goats over our prostrate forms, and the fleas 
hopped about merrily, which, combined, prevented 
our oversleeping. Hence, by half-past six next 
morning (November 14th), we had saddled our 
horses, and, breakfastless, were off for 'Amman, to 
which place it had been determined to proceed by 
the direct road across country, without going first 
south-west to Salt and thence back south-east to 
Amman, the route generally followed by the cara- 
vans. This direct road is hilly, and numberless 
valleys have to be crossed which, from the east, 
intersect the table-land lying between Jerash and 



296 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



Amman : it is but little used, and, as far as I could 
learn, has been seldom described by previous travel- 
lers. To us, its being little known was of course 
a recommendation ; besides, as we had no wish to 
excite the attention of the officials of the Belka, it 
was perhaps as well to avoid visiting Salt, the 
residence of the Governor of that province. 

Starting from Neby Hud in a south-easterly direc- 
tion, after half an hour we crossed at right angles the 
Wady Riyashi, running south-west, and down which 
lies the direct road to Salt. At the point where 
we forded the brook is a ruined mill almost hidden 
among the mass of oleanders and fig-trees border- 
ing the bed of the stream, which, it is said, joins the 
Jerash river a short distance before this latter itself 
falls into the Zerka. We, however, turning towards 
the south, left the Riyashi behind us, and, making 
our way up the hill-slopes above its left bank, here 
most refreshingly dotted with scrub oak, in rather 
more than half an hour had gained the summit of 
the watershed which divides the valley of Jerash 
from that of the Zerka. The saddle across which 
the road lay commanded a fine view on either hand, 
the summit being marked by a cairn of stones a 
dozen feet high, erected to mark the spot where a 
celebrated chief had been slain. From here to the 
right, westwards, there was visible the lower part of 
the Valley of Jerash, separated from us by several 



A RIDE THROUGH "AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 297 



ranges of bare hills. To the left, and in front 
towards the south, lay the hills of the Belka, cut off 
from us by a deep gorge, at the bottom of which, as 
yet unseen, ran the Zerka, the Biblical Jabbok, in 
ancient times the boundary between the territories of 
Og, the King of Bashan, and of Sihon, King of the 
Amorites, and still to-day the limit to the north of 
the Belka province. The hills all round were barren 
and stony ; here and there a pollarded oak struggled 
for existence against the drought and the loss of its 
branches, which the Bedawin had cut off for fuel, and 
everything seemed lifeless and forlorn, until suddenly, 
as we were making our way down a steep spur to 
the bed of the Zerka, we came on an encampment of 
three black tents, hidden away in a delicious little 
dell, down which went brawling a tiny stream. The 
Bedawin men were all away with the flocks, but the 
women received us hospitably, started coffee-making, 
and the while were profuse in advice and directions 
as to the road we were to follow. They belonged, 
they said, to the Khaza 'Ali, a branch of the Beni 
Hasan, one of the great tribes of the Belka, and 
seemed in comfortable circumstances. Very pretty 
striped carpets of goat-hair were spread for us to 
sit on in the shade of the tent walls, and though 
our hostess was more remarkable for her perpetual 
chatter than for graces of person, she seemed 
extremely proud of the rings which adorned both 



298 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



thumb and little finger of her right hand and the 
two big toes of her feet. What between conversa- 
tion, coffee-making, and the setting before us of 
bread and milk, it was fully an hour before we could 
tear ourselves away from our gossiping hostess, but 
at last we set off again up the hill-spur, and then 
began once more zigzagging downwards. A final 
scramble brought us into a small amphitheatre 
debouching on to the river, the slopes of which were 
covered with the curious shrub called by the Arabs 
Yenb&t, its long fleshy green twigs or leaves, of 
the thickness of crochet-needles, brushing against 
our faces as we pushed our way through the jungle. 

The bed of the Zerka river, at this season only some 
three yards broad, and barely a foot deep, is bordered 
with the Daflah, or oleander, still showing an occa- 
sional pink flower among its dark green leaves. The 
sides of the gorge in which the river runs are here 
extremely steep, in places almost perpendicular; and 
while further to the west, down the river, the valley 
appears to open out, up eastward the mountains on 
either hand closed in more and more, till in the 
extreme distance the stream makes its way out of 
a gigantic cleft where high precipices would seem 
almost to meet a thousand feet above the water. At 
the spot where we now crossed, the Wady Zerka has 
a level pebbly bottom above 200 yards across, which 
during the freshets must be almost entirely sub- 



A RIDE THROUGH "AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 299 



merged. Riding straight across this we proceeded 
to pick out a torrent-bed among the many that cut 
through the cliffs overhanging the river on the south, 
and after half an hour's climb up a very steep wady 
we were again on the high uplands, whence, look- 
ing back over the gorge, we could trace our route 
among the hills of Jerash. Continuing on through a 
broad upland valley dotted with trees, there appeared 
before long a small village of mud cabins — among 
which was a blacksmith's shop in full blast — cluster- 
ing together under the shade of a grove of oaks, 
many of them of no inconsiderable size. The place 
is called 'Aluk, and is situated about two miles dis- 
tant from the Zerka, due south of the spot at which 
we came across the river. From 'Aluk the road 
towards 'Amman first runs due east for a couple of 
miles over the upland, crossing every now and again 
the head of some wady running down towards the 
left into the gorge of the Zerka ; and finally, bearing 
round towards the south, goes over the hill-shoulder, 
from which, back over the gorge and the hills, the 
white dome of Neby Hud can be made out in the far 
distance. The country over which we were now 
travelling may be described as a rolling upland ; it is 
cultivated in patches by the Bedawin, and in places 
is overgrown by brushwood, scrub oak, and Yenbtlt. 
Among these hollows and hills we frequently lost our 
way, and wandered about till set on the right path by 



300 A RIDE THROUGH 'AjfLUN AND THE BELKA. 



chancing to stumble on some small camp of black 
tents, occupied by the women who were herding the 
camels in the absence of their lords. 

Several times in this part of the country we passed 
' Arab circles ' of small boulder stones, and on one 
occasion, under a fine Butm tree (terebinth), came on 
what was evidently the tomb of a much-respected 
sheikh, judging from the corn-measures and the 
plough which had been deposited within the circle of 
the shrine for safe keeping. About four miles from 
Ahik, and roughly to the south-east of it, topping a 
low hill over which goes the road, are the ruins of a 
building that was originally constructed of squared 
stones, but of which nothing is now traceable except 
the general rectangular plan. The place is known 
by the name of Sarruj, and is used by the people as 
a storing-place for grain. Some Arabs who were 
here, occupied in cleaning corn, invited us to go on 
to a large encampment of their tribe, the Beni Hasan, 
which they pointed out in a hollow a mile further off. 
Here the black tents, fifteen in number, and of the 
largest size, were pitched in two lines facing east. 
On stopping to inquire and give the news, we were 
requested by the sheikh to administer relief to an 
unfortunate Arab who lay at the back of the tent 
suffering from failing breath, in what appeared the 
last stage of consumption, a disease that is said to be 
of no uncommon occurrence among the Bedawin. 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 301 



The case, however, as far as we could judge, was 
beyond the reach of medicine, and there was no 
physician among us, so with expressions of sympathy, 
and a few general directions as to the patient's com- 
fort, we took leave and continued our way up and 
over a hill to the south-east, from whence was over- 
looked a broad shallow valley, not unlike that in 
which is situated Jerash. This valley, the drainage 
of which is towards the north, runs up at a very 
slight gradient in a direction almost due south, for 
over six miles. It is called by the Bedawin of the 
Beni Hasan, Wady Khalla, or Khalli, and affords good 
pasture to their herds, which find water at several 
shallow wells in its bed. The sheep and goats here 
met with are of a remarkably fine breed, large in 
size, and have heavy fleeces. The bell-wether of 
each flock is distinguished by a sort of crown of 
gaudily coloured feathers attached to the back of 
the neck just behind the ears, the wool in its neigh- 
bourhood being also dyed red with Henna. As we 
proceeded up this valley, which is everywhere dotted 
with oak-trees and thorn, there appeared a ruin on 
the right hand, high up the slope of the hills shutting 
in the valley from the west, where by our glasses we 
could perceive, as we thought, the remains of walls. 
It is known by the names of Khurbet-er-Rumaneh 
and Khurbet-el-Bireh, but being much pressed for 
time it was found impossible to visit the spot, which, 



3Q2 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



further, our guide assured us at the present day 
contained but little more than a heap of stones. A 
short distance beyond, where we lost sight of the 
ruin, the valley takes a sharp turn to the right, and 
then back into a south-westerly direction ; which fol- 
lowing, we soon after turned up into a branch wady 
coming in from the west, and were much pleased 
to see the main encampment of the Beni Hasan, it 
being already two hours after midday. Here twenty- 
four long black tents, pitched in double row, took up 
the whole of the floor of the wady ; and to that of 
the sheikh, conspicuous by its superior size, we 
proceeded, picking our way over the tent-ropes, and 
there made ourselves the recipients of Bedawin 
hospitality. 

First came the customary thimbleful of coffee — 
roasted, pounded, and boiled up in our presence ; 
then followed a more substantial repast of excellent 
new Arab bread — resembling thick pancakes — which 
was seasoned by being dipped bit by bit in a bowl of 
melted butter ; then coffee once more, and in an hour 
we were on our road again, having given our hosts 
the latest items of political news, and received from 
them in return minute directions as to the path. 
Turning back into the main wady, the track runs 
up it some little way, and then going south-west 
crosses a low shoulder. From this point there is 
one road leading almost due west, up a wady, 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 303 



to Salt direct, while that towards Amman keeps 
on in a south-westerly direction over the rolling 
country, and cuts across many minor wadies that run 
down from the east. Near the point of bifurcation 
of these two roads is a small clump of Butm or 
terebinth trees, at the foot of which are lying the 
shafts of two broken columns. The larger of them 
is a monolith some 9 feet long, and is cut out of the 
piece in such a manner that the base, 4 feet high and 
about 2 feet in diameter, tapers down to the shaft of 
half this size, the whole being very neatly executed 
in white limestone. A mile further on again, where 
the road runs along the western slope of a shallow 
valley, we passed fragments of six more broken 
columns of about the same size as the others ; but 
since no further trace of any temple or building was 
to be seen in the neighbourhood, one is led to the 
supposition that these fragments have at some period 
been transported hither from the great centre of ruins 
at Yajuz. We were now travelling along a raised 
causeway, the remains of a Roman road, running 
over the undulating plain, which is covered here and 
there by patches of corn-land, and after a couple of 
miles our horses began to stumble among stones of 
Yajuz ; but as the sun had already gone down, 
archaeology was out of the question, and it was neces- 
sary to discover, without further delay, the where- 
abouts of the Bedawin camp in which we trusted to 



304 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



pass the night. Turning, therefore, off the road at 
right angles towards the west, we rode up to a goat- 
herd, who directed us to a slight depression in the 
plain, where, after twenty minutes' riding, we came 
suddenly on about a dozen tents of the Beni 'Adwan, 
and without unnecessary ceremony pressed ourselves 
on the hospitality of the somewhat surly sheikh. 
The night was bitterly cold, and — what between the 
wind and the fleas, and the extremely confiding 
nature of the ewes, who, for warmth's sake, were 
always trying to insinuate themselves beneath our 
blankets — sleep was fitful. Further, and as usual, till 
far into the night, our Arab friends discussed in 
strident tones politics and finance, for, as every 
traveller knows to his cost, these worthies have such 
a habit of sleeping at odd hours during the day, that 
at night, being wakeful, they are sadly addicted to 
interminable discoursings. Discomfort only ceased 
with the dawn-chill, and, being up betimes, when the 
sun rose in splendour over the rolling uplands, here 
in most parts covered with the growth of a plant 
resembling heather, we were already on our way back 
to the road into Yajuz, out of which we had turned 
the night before. 

At the entrance of the ruins is a large clump of some 
of the finest terebinth-trees that ever I came across. 
In their immediate neighbourhood is a large Arab 
cemetery, the most prominent tomb of which is that 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 305 



of Nimr ibn Gobelan, a sheikh of the 'Adwan, whose 
death, according to the inscription on the headstone, 
took place a.h. 1238, i.e., some sixty and odd years 
ago. His memory is still held in awe among the 
Bedawin, and we noticed many ploughs and other 
farm implements lying near the tomb, deposited 
here in sanctuary. One of the 'Adwan, our host of 
the previous night, who accompanied us a short 
distance on the journey, informed me that this spot 
is known under the name of A'deyl, and is considered 
distinct from Yajuz. The ruins, known to the Arabs 
under the latter name, have been so fully described 
in their respective works by both Mr. Oliphant and 
Dr. Merrill* that further details may be deemed 
superfluous. They extend from A'deyl eastwards 
for more than a mile. It is noteworthy, however, 
that all attempts at identification seem to have 
failed, although the extensive remains of carved 
Byzantine capitals, squared blocks, and the founda- 
tions of numerous edifices which crowd both sides of 
this broad upland valley, would lead us to conclude 
that there must have existed here a very populous 
town during the Grseco-Roman period. It may be 
worth noting that in the lists of the Arab geographers 
there is no mention of the name Yajuz ; nor was 
there in the days of the Caliphate, so far as I can 

* ' Land of Gilead,' p. 227 et seq. ' East of the Jordan,' p. 273 
et seq. 

20 



306 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



discover, any considerable town that agrees in point 
of situation with the site of these ruins. The caves 
with which the hill-slopes are honeycombed are used 
by the 'Adwan as granaries, but apparently no settled 
inhabitants are found in the neighbourhood. 

After spending some time in riding in every 
direction over these interesting remains, and seeking 
in vain for anything in the way of an inscription or 
a date, we proceeded in a south-easterly direction, 
still over a rolling country that showed ever and anon 
patches of cultivation. The shallow wadies which the 
track crosses for the most part run down towards 
the east, presumably into the depressed plain of 
El Bukei'a ; but, for some miles round, the whole 
district hereabout is known under the name of 
Yajuz. Half an hour after leaving the ruins we 
passed a large nameless heap of disjointed but squared 
masonry, lying in the shade of some Butm trees grow- 
ing on a hill-slope facing the north. From here the 
path, turning up the wady towards the east, crosses 
some low hills, and finally surmounting the crest, 
leads down into a curiously long and narrow plain : 
apparently the bed of an ancient lake, as I should 
judge, analogous to that which once filled the 
depressed plain of El Bukei'a, lying some miles over 
to the north-west of our present point. Wending 
down the slopes, which, just before reaching the level, 
showed successive lines of pebbly beach and water- 



A RIDE THROUGH "AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 307 



worn banks, we descended to the ancient lake- 
bottom, here some 400 yards broad, and as even as 
a billiard-table. The Arabs of the 'Adwan call this 
track of land Hemel Belka, and cultivate the rich 
alluvial soil in patches, raising crops of wheat and 
maize (durrah) . The narrow plain, from the point we 
entered it, extends for the distance of about a couple 
of miles due south, having an average breadth that 
might be estimated at a quarter of a mile, and then 
bears off in a south-easterly direction, draining down 
in all probability into the Zerka Valley, which, 
according to the maps, must curve round towards it. 
Where the angle occurred we came up out of the 
narrow plain, and striking over the hills to the south- 
south-west passed another nameless ruin, where 
confused heaps of masonry are crowned by a few 
small, but most elegant, oval arches ; which passed, 
once again we found ourselves on the upland plain 
that trends down south towards 'Amman. 

The land here, after the early rains, was under- 
going the process of being ploughed and sown by the 
Fellahin of the Beni 'Adwan. At one moment we 
could count about thirty yoke of oxen, and the 
wonted stillness was agreeably enlivened by the 
shouts of the ploughmen, who, in more than one case, 
were engaged in directing the capricious evolutions of 
camels which had been compelled to take the place 
of the more docile steers. Considering the ungainly 

20 — 2 



308 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



size of the camels and the diminutive wooden ploughs 
to which they were so clumsily harnessed, it was 
assuredly a marvel of skill that the furrows ran in 
passably straight and parallel lines. The camels 
evidently loathed the business, and to judge by the 
objurgations of their drivers — who were continually 
calling heaven to witness that their (the camels') 
clumsiness was the natural consequence of a dissolute 
life and a disreputable ancestry — the camel-men 
themselves were not enamoured of their job. For a 
considerable time we passed patch after patch being 
ploughed in this fashion, and riding over a treeless 
plateau at length struck back into the high-road 
running south-east from Yajuz to 'Amman, which we 
had left to our right in turning off to visit the ruins 
and the Hemel Belka. After this, very shortly came 
a rather steep wady in a cross direction, running due 
east, down which the path led ; and in a few minutes 
more we found ourselves for the second time in the 
Valley of the Zerka, and the ruins of 'Amman were 
before us. 

The ruins being fully described in all the guide- 
books, it would be waste of time attempting in these 
notes to recall the wonders of Greek architecture 
that have hitherto lain peacefully entombed beyond 
the Jordan, but which are now given over by the 
Ottoman Government to be a habitation for 
Circassian colonists. At the house of one of these 



A RIDE THROUGH y AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 309 



worthies, while being hospitably entertained with tea 
and new bread, I endeavoured, but in vain, to gain 
some information concerning the whereabouts of the 
curious subterranean city of Rahab that Mr. Oliphant, 
in ' The Land of Gilead,' reports having heard spoken 
of as existing in the country to the east of the Zerka. 
All we could learn was that some people had heard 
tell in stories of this place, but no one at 'Amman 
had seen the spot or knew of its exact position. As 
confirming these somewhat vague notices, it may be, 
perhaps, worth while to draw attention to the account 
which Mokaddasi, in the beginning of the eleventh 
century a.d., gives of a remarkable cavern in these 
parts. After describing 'Amman, where he notes 
' the Castle of Goliath on a hill overlooking the city, 
and also the tomb of Uriyya (Uriah?) over which 
stands a mosque,'* he continues : ' About a farsakh 
(three miles) distant from 'Amman, on the border of 
the desert, is the village of ar-Rakim.t Here is a 
* Mokaddasi, op. at., p. 175. 

t It is often stated that ar-Rakim may be identified with 
Petra or Wady Musa, on the hypothesis that the name repre- 
sents the 1 Arekem 5 of Josephus (' Antiq.,' iv. 4, 7, and iv. 7, 1.) 
This identification, however, which originated with A. Schultens 
in the last century (see his ' Vita Saladini,' Index geographicus, 
s. v. Errakimicni), and has been copied by many later writers 
{e.g.. Note 2 to p. 5 of vol. ii., part 2, of S. Guyard's translation 
of Abu-l-Feda's Geography) was shown, very rightly, to be incor- 
rect by Robinson (' Researches/ ii., p. 653). In the first place, 
ar-Rakim of Mokaddasi, three miles from 'Amman, and said by 
Abu-l-Feda to be in the Belka Province, cannot be Petra, which 



3io A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



cave with two gates, one small, one big ; and they say 
that he who enters by the larger gate is unable to pass 
out by the smaller. On the floor of the cavern are 
three tombs, concerning which Abul Fadl Muhammed 
ibn Mansur has related to me the following, on the 
authority of Abu Bekr ibn,' etc. ; and after giving his 
chain of authorities, which reaches back to 'Abd 
Allah, the son of the Khalif Omar, he reports how 
the Prophet had said that these were the tombs of 
certain pious men, who, seeking shelter from the rain, 
had entered this cave and been shut in by 
the fall of a rock which completely blocked up 
the entrance. The impediment, however, was 
miraculously removed by the hand of the Most High, 
on their calling to Heaven for aid, each man in turn 
conjuring the Almighty, and resting his claim on the 
virtue of some especially pious act performed in past 
times. The legend here is not to the purpose, and 
is besides too long to quote in extenso, it being 
merely another version of the story of the Seven 

lies two days' journey south of the Dead Sea. And this agrees 
perfectly with the mention of it in Ibn al Athir's Chronicle 
(Text ed. by Tornberg, vol. xi., p. 259), where the place is set 
down as lying two days' march north of Karak, on the road be- 
tween Damascus and that fortress. So, again, in Abu-l-Feda's 
Chronicle, ' Events of the Year 568 A.H.' The confusion no 
doubt arises from the fact that originally there were two Rakims, 
as is shown by the notices in the Talmud, namely (cf. Neubauer's 
* Geographie du Talmud '), Rekem of Ga'aya and Rekem of 
Hagra. 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 311 



Sleepers of Ephesus, whose adventures form the 
subject of a portion of the eighteenth chapter of the 
Koran; but as confirming the reported existence of 
some large cavern or underground city in the 
neighbourhood of 'Amman, the account is curious, 
and it shows at how early a date such a report had 
obtained currency. 

From 'Amman it was our intention to get across to 
Jerusalem, via 'Arak el Emir ; but since the route is 
already carefully laid down in the invaluable Baedeker, 
but little detail of distances and directions need here 
be given. Riding up the bank along the now diminu- 
tive stream of the Zerka, we passed an abundant 
spring that forms one of its sources, and climbing 
the northern side of the wady gained the treeless up- 
land plain stretching westward. Over this, a ride of 
two hours brought us to the cleft of the Wady Sir, 
a well-wooded ravine that drains into the Jordan 
Valley, and in which, but still some miles lower 
down, are the remains known as 'Arak el Emir. At 
the spot where we left the bare upland plain to 
plunge into the green wady, the ruins known as 
Khurbet Sar lie a short distance to the left, while 
across on the opposite side there were visible 
the mouths of several small caverns or chambers 
hollowed in the face of the cliff; and we noticed 
other specimens of these abodes of bygone anchorites 
in many places further down the gorge. Half-way 



312 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



down the steep path that leads into the dell there 
opens out a small plain, at present occupied by some 
Circassian families, who have built here a village of 
wattle-and-dab houses, exactly similar to those that 
are met with in the neighbourhood of Tiflis. But 
we had to hurry on without visiting them, for the 
afternoon was waning. 

The whole gorge of the Sir is most beautifully 
wooded ; two mills are turned by the stream that 
flows through it, and while its sides are almost 
everywhere hidden by the dark foliage of the oaks 
and other forest trees, the margin of the brook too 
is masked by a broad fringe of oleanders that grow 
here to a height of over 14 feet. In a little meadow, 
where the cliff on the right bank recedes from the 
water's edge, and about two miles above 'Arak el 
Emir, there is a collection of Arab ' circles ' of a 
somewhat abnormal type. • The stones are about a 
foot high, and form the perimeter of a circle that is 
roughly a couple of yards across. What is unusual, 
however, is that here the area surrounded by this 
low circular wall has been roofed over by laying 
branches rafter-wise, and filling in with straw, the 
whole being afterwards covered with a coating of 
clay. There was, as usual, a sort of doorway left in 
the circle of stones, in the present instance facing 
south. These little buildings have every appearance 
of being intended for habitations of some sort, only 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 313 



that while the extreme lowness of the roof and the 
small extent of the covered space would render the 
ingress of any human being an impossibility, the 
clean condition of the interiors showed that they 
had evidently not been used as pens for lambs 
or other small quadrupeds. Further, our Arab 
guide immediately recognised them as marking the 
burial-places of sheikhs, reminding us of the very 
similar, though unroofed, circles which we had passed 
by in the hills on many previous occasions during 
our journey. 

After riding down the Wady Sir for nearly two 
hours, the path lying sometimes in the very bed of 
the pebbly brook, sometimes along the meadows 
which skirted its banks, and at times again threading 
the copses that overhung its winding course, we 
came out suddenly into the magnificent amphi- 
theatre of hill-cliffs, where is situated 'Arak el 
Emir — said to be the remains of the palace which, 
according to Josephus, Hyrcanus built in 182 B.C., 
during the last days of his exile beyond the Jordan. 
In the main the description of the Jewish historian 
tallies well enough with what we find here of rock- 
cut caverns, and cyclopean masonry carved with the 
forms of huge animals. It is, however, perhaps a 
point worth noting, and one that did not fail to 
strike me when I first came on the ruins of the 
Kasr-el-'Abd, that while Josephus plainly states that 



3H^ RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN and the belka. 



Hyrcanus ' built it entirely of white stone to the very 
roof, and had animals of a prodigious magnitude 
engraved thereupon,' when we come to examine here 
the carved blocks, alongside of which the inquisitive 
traveller feels dwarfed to the dimensions of an insect, 
we find that they are all, without exception, cut out 
of stone most remarkably black. But as Josephus 
had himself never visited this place, the error is 
probably due to his having been misinformed by the 
hearsay report of contemporary tourists. The re- 
mains at 'Arak el Emir, whatever may be their date, 
cannot fail to strike the traveller with somewhat of 
that same feeling of awe which he experiences when 
standing for the first time beside the huge stones 
either at Baalbek, the platform of Persepolis, or the 
Egyptian Pyramids. Greek and Roman ruins are 
dwarfed into insignificance beside these, for they tell 
of an age when labour and time were held as of no 
account in the calculations of kings who built for 
themselves such temples, palaces, or tombs. It was 
with difficulty that we tore ourselves away from these 
wonderful relics of a bygone civilization. But already 
the sun was hiding behind the western hill, and while 
we were lingering in the artificial caverns high up 
in the cliff, they became shrouded in gloom, though 
the bold characters of the Hasmonean inscription 
on the rock above — read * Adniah,' and said to 
mean 'Delight' — still stood out distinct in the 



A RIDE THROUGH' AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 315 



blush that was already dying off the surface of the 
black masonry in the meadow below. 

We had yet to beat up night-quarters, and there- 
fore, scampering up the shoulder of the projecting 
spur shutting in the amphitheatre on the south, we 
crossed into a wady known as that of Umm el 
Madaris, and shortly coming across some homeward- 
bound cattle, were directed by the neat-herd to the 
encampment of his tribe, the Beni 'Abbad, located 
in an adjacent dell. We were now among the 
wadies that lead down directly to the Jordan Valley, 
and just before coming to the tents, while riding 
over the crest of an intervening spur, suddenly there 
burst on us a most magnificent view of the Dead 
Sea, spread out apparently at our feet. From the 
height, its whole surface, as far as the eye could 
reach, appeared like a sheet of burnished gold about 
to become molten under the rays of the setting sun, 
whose orb was fast vanishing behind the blue hills 
of the desert of Judaea ; and below, in the fore- 
ground, was the opening out of the Jordan Valley, 
here some ten miles across — Jericho, as a patch of 
black-green foliage, shining out distinct on the 
further side. 

Although the Beni 'Abbad were hospitable, and 
their carpets were tolerably free from vermin, the 
coldness of the air, and the continuous groaning of 
one of the men who had lately received a spear- 



316 A RIDE THROUGH "AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



thrust in his leg, rendered our sleep fitful. Besides, 
as usual, our hosts took up the best part of the 
night detailing their grievances to us, and requested 
our advice on the important point of how £100 
might be obtained on loan to rid them of their 
enemies. It appeared that certain lands belonging 
from time immemorial to their tribe, for which, 
moreover, they held title-deeds, had been (by Govern- 
ment) granted to, and were occupied by, the immi- 
grant Circassians. We suggested that a petition 
forwarded with the title-deeds to the Government 
would doubtless set matters right ; but in reply we 
were assured that so doing, unless much bakhshish 
went with the papers, would only lead to the loss of 
the deeds without there being the smallest chance 
of the tribe obtaining any re-establishment in their 
rights. Cheaper than this, they said, it would be to 
bribe the Circassians to decamp and take up their 
quarters on somebody else's land, and for this 
purpose a hundred pounds were needed, which we, 
however, deeply regretted being, perforce, unable to 
put them in the way of obtaining. 

Next morning we were up before the sun, for 
there was the long ride into Jerusalem before us. 
Distances in the East, even after long practice, are 
most deceptive, especially when looking from a 
height down and across a plain. The Jordan seemed 
almost at our feet, but it was four hours' good riding 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 317 



before we reached the ford and crossed the swirling 
muddy stream, which, even at this season, in some 
places rose above the horses' girths. 

When leaving the mountains and riding between 
the last hill-spurs out into the Ghor, I judge we 
must have passed within a short distance of Tell esh 
Shaghur, which recent writers propose to identify 
with Segor, or Zoar, one of the Cities of the Plain. 
Dr. Merrill, who discusses the question of the site at 
some length,* concludes by stating that to his mind 
the arguments for placing the Zoar of Lot at the 
north end of the Dead Sea are convincing ; adding, 
' We present here a few quotations from Arab writers 
which bear upon this question.' But from these 
' quotations ' I venture to think he deduces an 
erroneous conclusion, through not i bearing in mind 
the fact that the narrow valley leading south from the 
Dead Sea towards the Gulf of Akabah was known 
to the Arabs as the Ghor, and hence bears the same 
name as is given by them to the Jordan Valley 
running up north from that lake. 

Whatever may be concluded from the Biblical 
narrative as to the position of the Zoar of Lot, a 
careful examination of the Arab geographers leads 
me to conclude that they, at least, held to the tradi- 
tion preserved by Josephus, and followed by Eusebius 
and Jerome, which places Zoar or Segor to the south- 
* ' East of the Jordan,' p. 233 et seq. 



318 A RIDE THROUGH AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



east of the Dead Sea. Their Zoar is identical with 
the city so frequently mentioned under the name of 
Segor by the historians of the Crusades, and occurring 
in many of the itineraries of the mediaeval travellers. 
To the Arab geographers Zughar, the city of Lot, 
was as well known a place as Jerusalem or Damascus ; 
and the Dead Sea, more generally called al Buhairah 
al Muntinah, ' the Stinking Lake,' has also the alter- 
native name of ' the Sea of Zughar.' Further, it is 
evident that there were not known to these mediaeval 
geographers two Zughars, for in Yakut's ' Mush- 
tarik,' a lexicon of geographical homonyms, which 
especially deals with cities of the same name, but of 
different location, the name Zughar does not figure 
in the list. Turning now to Mokaddasi, who was 
himself a native of Palestine, and wrote during the 
century preceding the first Crusade, we find that 
Zughar (also spelt Sughar) is mentioned as being in 
his day the capital of the province of the Sharah* 
(which corresponds in general with the ancient 
Moab), and he cites it as the sole remaining city of 
Lot, ' saved by reason that its inhabitants knew not 
of the abominations.' As to its position, it is de- 
scribed as standing on (or near) the Dead Sea, with 
the mountains near about it ;t while that it is to be 
sought at the south-eastern end of the lake is shown 

* Mokaddasi, op. cit. } p. 155. 
f Op. cit., p. 178. 



A RIDE THROUGH 1 A JLUN AND THE BELKA. 319 



by the statement that it is ' one marhalah ' (twenty- 
five miles — a day's march) distant from Maab, a town 
situated in the desert to the east of Kerak; and 'four 
marhalahs ' from Wailah,* the port at the head of 
the Gulf of Akabah. Also Istakhrif and Ibn 
Haukal,J geographers of the generation preceding 
Mokaddasi, state that between Jericho and Zughar 
lay ' a day's march ;' and in one case other MSS. 
give the alternative but probably erroneous reading, 
' two days' march.' At this epoch, that is, during 
the eleventh century a.d., Zughar was a place of 
considerable trade, famed for its indigo and dates, 
these last being of exquisite quality, and quoted as 
one among the eight kinds celebrated in all the 
countries of Islam. § On the other hand, the climate 
of Zughar was deadly, and its drinking-water 
execrable, 'hot even as though it were over hell 
fire ;' || and later, when characterizing the drinking- 
water of Palestine as generally so excellent, Mokad- 
dasi exclaims,H ' But we take refuge in Allah from 
that of Zughar, though the water of Bait-er-Ram is 
in truth bad enough.' 

Turning now to the great Geographical Dictionary 
of Yakut (compiled in the early part of the thir- 
teenth century A.D.) we find two long articles, one 



* Op. tit, pp. 192, 249. 
% I&z'd.fip. 126. 
|| Op. tit., p. 178. 



t Edit, de Goeje, p. 66. 
§ Mokaddasi, p. 470. 
\ Op. tit, p. 184. 



320 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA . 



under the heading ' Sughar,' and another under the 
alternative pronunciation of* Zughar.'* After quoting 
the verse of a poet who sings of the ' southern region 
of the Sharah from Maab to Zughar,' Yakut proceeds 
to give various traditions which connect the town 
with the history of Lot, and says that its name came 
to it from one of Lot's daughters. It also is stated 
that Zughar is situated in the neighbourhood of the 
Dead Sea, in a wady ; it being three days' journey 
from Jerusalem, and lying near the frontiers of the 
Hejaz ;t and the author of the ' Meracid,' writing 
about a century after Yakut, after quoting his words 
as to the position of Zughar, which is on or near the 
Dead Sea, adds that it is not far from Kerak.J 

Thus I find no authority, among such of the Arab 
geographers as I have read, for locating the Zughar 
or Zoar of their day anywhere but to the south-east 
of the Dead Sea. For, to sum up their indications, 
the city stood '.near the Dead Sea'; £ one day's march 
from Maab,' ' the same from Jericho,' and ' four from 
the head of the Gulf of Akabah ' ; ' three days' march 
from Jerusalem/ and 'near Kerak' — from all of which 
it would appear impossible that a town across the 

* Wustenfeld's ' Yakut/ ii. 933 ; iii. 396. In the Arab geo- 
graphers the name is found spelt j**=>, Sughar ; j&j, Zughar ; 
andjilwo Sukar. 

f Op. tit., ii. 934. 

% ' Meracid-el-Ittila/ i. 514. 



A RIDE THROUGH "AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 321 



Jordan opposite Jericho should be intended ; while 
the assertion that the water at Sughar was execrable, 
of itself indicates that Tell esh Shaghur, in the wady 
below 'Arak el Emir, where excellent springs abound, 
can hardly be a satisfactory identification. 

From the Jordan ford up to Jerusalem we rode 
along the beaten track that every Cook's tourist 
has followed. The ghastly barrenness of the 
country, and the glare from the chalky hills among 
which the road winds, renders this one of the most 
tedious bits of journeying in Palestine, and we were 
fortunate in being able to accomplish the ride from 
Jericho to Jerusalem in five hours. It is, however, 
worth while to come up this dreary road from the 
east to catch the first sight of Jerusalem from the 
summit of the Mount of Olives. Arriving by the Jaffa 
road, the Holy City is hidden until the pilgrim is 
almost within its gates, while from Bethany he rides 
suddenly into view of this unique metropolis, which, 
from here, in - its entirety, lies spread out at his feet. 
The week's discomfort in Bedawin tents, and the 
monotonous ride of the last few hours, had, I think, 
attuned us to a just pitch of appreciation, and 
although rather too hungry and weary for aesthetic 
raptures, it was some little time before we rode on 
down through St. Stephen's Gate, and sought out 
our night-quarters in the Damascus Hotel. 

In concluding these notes, and for the information 

21 



322 A RIDE THROUGH 'AJLUN AND THE BELKA. 



of those who may have any intention of penetrating 
into the countries beyond the Jordan, I may be per- 
mitted to bring to the notice of my readers that our 
journey had been accomplished without paying a 
piastre to Goblan, the famous (or rather infamous) 
chief of the 'Adwan, or even in any way gratifying 
the cupidity of the Sheikh of Suf — both personages 
generally but too well known to those who have left 
Jerusalem for a trip into the Land of Gilead. And 
yet we had been able, in the course of six days, to 
visit the sites of Tabakat Fahl (Pella), Jerash, 
'Amman, and 'Arak el Emir, taking the direct route 
across country from one site to another, and along 
roads seldom seen by the ordinary tourist. The 
secret of our successful raid — for so only can I ven- 
ture to call it — lay in the fact that, taking neither 
tents nor servants, we were but three horsemen 
mounted on inelegant hacks, more useful as roadsters 
than in any way remarkable for breed, and that one 
of us was a native of the country, personally ac- 
quainted with the Arab sheikhs of the district which 
it was intended to visit. Lastly, as we took no more 
baggage than our horses could carry, we, in accord- 
ance with that ancient and convenient custom of 
the Arabs, imposed ourselves nightly as guests in 
some nomad camp, coming down at the hair-tent of 
the sheikh, whose honour, forthwith, was engaged 
for our personal well-being and safety. By this 



A RIDE THROUGH 'AJULN AND THE BELKA . 323 



proceeding we avoided the necessity of carrying with 
us provisions for the road, and dispensed with a 
baggage animal ; and hence our appearance was in 
no way calculated to excite the cupidity of those 
whom we met in our journey. 

The presence of tents and baggage-mules, with 
the attendant dragoman and Zaptieh, are plentiful 
reasons to account for the costliness complained of 
by travellers who cross the Jordan and go eastward 
from the Dead Sea. Anyone who is lucky enough 
to get a native friend for companion, who can keep 
his own counsel, and who wants no escort of Zap- 
tiehs, can almost always visit any part of the country 
beyond the Jordan at very little risk. Only his stay 
must be so little protracted that the authorities get 
no news of it, and for this short time the traveller 
must be content with Bedawin fare, and such repose 
as may be obtained on the hard earth under an Arab 
tent, where hospitality is provided alike for vermin 
and for men. 



21 — 2 



INDEX. 



In the names of places the more obvious significations only are given. 
The Arabic names are taken from lists drawn up on the spot by 
G. Schumacher and G. le Strange. 

A. 

'Abdin, 41- 

Abu Ballutah, dSa^J "The Place of the Oak," 46. 
El'Adeseh, <J~oJ*M, "The Lentil," (the concrete of small 

pebbles, used for house floors in Palestine, is called 

El 'Adeseh,) 255. 
A'deyl, Ji^> 305. 

'Adwan, ^J^&t (Village,) 119. (For tribe, see under 
Beni.) 

>Ain 'Aliyah, &J^> or W^S "The Upper Spring," 

46, 88. 

'Ain Dakkar,^ (Spring,) 15; (Village,) 46. 

'Ain el Ekseir, 46. 

'Ain Esfera, 1 " The Whistling Spring" (?), 

259, 262. 

'Ain Hammatah, "The Spring of the 

Sycamore or Wild Fig," 51, 74- 
'Ain Janna, «^ ^y^>, 287, 289. 



326 



INDEX. 



'Ain Karian, i^^j 85. 

'Ain el Lubwah, &y*&\ 119. 

'Ain el Mallahah, <^^UJI « The Salt Spring," 1 17, 

123. 

'Ain en Nakhlah, "The Fountain of the 

Palm," 46, 

'Ain el Nileh, "The Fountain of the Indigo 

Tree," 35, 119. 
'Ain er Rumashtah, dkfcUp! ^^P-, I2 o, 169. 
Am es Sufukiyeh, <u5^aJI ^j^, 18, 187. 
'Ain et Tawileh, <&^1 ^j-^, " The Fountain of the 

Tall" (Palm), 118, 123. 
El'Ajamy, S 5^l 118. 

'Ajlun, eX^p. (District,) 283 ; (Forest of,) 281. 
El'Akib, <W 5 *M, "The Limit," 254. 
El'Al, 255. 
Alima in Gilead, 82. 
'Aluk, -4^>, 299. 
'Amman, 308. 
'Amrawah, 117. 
El'Amuriyeh, ^>**31, 118. 

Arab Circles, ^ tf/itf Sacred Circles, 300, 312. 

'Arab el 'Advvan, <-r*jPi 120. 

{See also under Beni.) 

'Arab el 'Anazeh, 3, 22, 52, £6; (The 

Tribe and its Divisions,) 103. 
'Arab el Fuddel, J*»*H 3, 51, 105, 

'Arab el Menadireb, fi^viUJI <^)£>, 4, 12, 46, 79, 83, 99. 
'Arab en Nu'em, ^> 3, io 5> IJ 9> r 5 6 « 

'Arab Izluf, or «-»^ 4, 5 1 - 

(6^ fl/y^ under Beni Wulid.) 



INDEX. 



327 



El 'Araj, fc^'i "The Lame," 244. 

'Arak el Emir, yv^\ "The Emir's Cliff," 313. 

'Arak el Heitaliyeh, <W~*s^ oLp> 46. 

Argob, Site of the Biblical, 45. 

Arkub er Rahwah, ^y^>, "The Broad Ridge," 

43- 

Ashtaroth, 209. 
Ashtaroth Karnaim, 207. 

'Ayyun es Sakher, dfcP', £: Springs of the Rock," 16. 

B. 

Bahret el 'Ajamy, "Lake of El 'Ajamy," 36, 

119, 120. 

Bahret el Ash'ary, <^>*-S^I S^a,.', 37, I2 o, 205. 

Bahret el Bajjeh, or B. el Mezeirib, or 

^^J^ 27, 120, 164. 
Bahret Zeizun, ^i) 30, 120, 234. 

Beidar Uz, J^l, "A Threshing Floor," 179. 
Beisan, ^^~^> 268. 
Beit Adis, (or Idis), <^~J, 27S. 

Beit Akkar,^l 16, 53. 

Beit Erry, &)\ 52. 

Belad el Kameh, vili, "The Wheat Country," 25. 

Belad er Rabi'ah, " The Grazing Country," 25. 

Belka, Province, ^IJI, 296, 297. 

Bendak, 120. 

Beni 'Abbad Tribe, 315. 

Beni 'Adwan Tribe, ^l?^ cs^> 120, 304, 306. 

Beni Hasan Tribe, ^3*^ 297, 300, 302. 

Beni el Hassaneh Tribe, <k~*sJI 103. 

Beni Khaz'aa 'Ali Tribe, d^)y^ 297. 



328 



INDEX. 



Beni Ruwalleh Tribe, <^jj 103. 

See also under 'Arab and Wulid. 
Bethirra, Bethura, Herod's Fort in Bathanea, 52. 
Bethsaida Julias, 244. 

Bintuh, tex}, 121. 

Bir esh Shejarah, "The Well of the Tree," 52, 

88. 

Birkeh, "Pool" (at Tsil,) 222 ; (at Yedtideh,) 232. 

Bisheir Tribe, yzrA, 103. 

Bread for the Damascus Garrison, baked at El Mezeirib, 164. 
El Bukei'a, <WW^, "The Little Plateau, or Depressed 

Plain," 306. 
Buruk, Jj^, "Gravel," 60. 

C. 

Caliphs of the Beni Omeiyah, their treasure buried at Tell 

el Ash'ary, 205. 
Camels, used in ploughing, 307. 
Capitolias, 240. 
Castle of Rabad, 282, 285. 

For " Castle " see imder Kasr and Kul'at. 
Christians in Hauran and Jaulan, 40. 

Circassians at Jerash, 292, 294 ; in Jaulan, 168 ; at 

'Amman, 308; Villages of, 312, 316. 
Coins found at Suf, 290; at Zeizun, 239. 
Craters, extinct, 85. 

D. 

Da'el, 147. 

Daflah or Oleander, <&*A, 294, 296, 298, 312. 
Darb el Hajj, ^sM "The Pilgrim Road," (to Mek- 

kah,) 38, 147. 



INDEX. 



329 



Dead Sea, or "Sea of Zughar," 315, 318. 

Deir Ayyub> <-r>$S jl^> "Job's Monastery," 188, 196. 

Deir el Leyyeh, ^ Jl^, 292. 

Deir el Lubwah, jiA, j^g, 

Ed Dera'ah c&alc^l, ( s0 S p e i t j n the Geographical Dic- 
tionaries,) 121. 
Dia Pasha, 162.' 

Ed Dikkeh, <*&JI, "The Platform, 245. 
Dilly, <J>S, 123, 
Dionysus, idol of, 82. 

Dolmens, near 'Ain Dakkar, 62 ; with circular opening at 
east end, 67 ; near Kburbet Hammatah, 69, 70 ; in 
Western Hauran, 149 ; near 'Ain Esfera, 259. 

Dukah, or Dukah Kefr 'Akib, (? so Robinson, III. 

304, and Index), 254. 

EdDakkakin, o^&xJi, "The Shops," t6c. 

Dusarah or Dionysus, 82. 

E. 

Eastern Jaulan, general description of, 3. 
El Ehreir, see under Wady. 
El Ekseir, j**=&M, 72. 

El Emshiyadat, <^U~Su*Jl, "The Plastered" or "Sublime," 
37, T 53- 

El Emzeira'ah, *&jyA\, « The Sovvn-field," 153. 
Escort of the Mekkah Pilgrims, no. 
Esfera, see under 'Ain, 259. 
Export of Grain, 23. 

F. 

Fahl or Fihl, Js^> 272. 

Family Life among the Eedawin, in. 



330 



INDEX. 



Feddan, a yoke of oxen ; Land measure, in Hauran and in 

Western Palestine, 2 r. 
Fellahin el Kufarat, the Peasantry of the Decapolis, 12. 
Fuel used in Hauran and Jaulan, 5, 24. 

G. 

Gaulanitis, 19; the Ancient Capital of, 93. 

Gerasa, see under Jerash. 

El Ghadir, " A Tank," 17, 73. 

Ghadir el Bostan, — .J ^ y \ Ji>, "The Garden Tank," 72. 

Ghor, both North and South of the Dead Sea, 317. 

H. 

Hamatah, see Khurbet. 

Hartah, ^j^, 10, 74. 

El Hasaniyeh, 251. 

Hawks and Hawking among the Bedawin, 109. 

Heit, W^, 153. 

Hemel BeM, ^ J^, 307. 

Hieromax, see Wady el Ehreir, 8. 

Horses of the Bedawin, 109. 

Ei Hummam, fUsJI, "The Baths," 

at Tell el Ash'ary, 205 ; at El Mezeirib, 163. 
Hummam Ayyub, "Job's Bath," 193. 
Hummam Siknany, 126. 
Hyrcanus, 313. 

I. 

Ibsheir (or Bisheir) Tribe, 103. 

Inscriptions, — Arabic, at Ed Dera'ah, 146 ; 

Greek, at 'Abdin, 41 ; at Sahem ej Jaulan, 98 ; at Kanat 
Fara'un, 125 ; at Ed Dera'ah, 131, 134, 136; at El 



INDEX. 



33i 



Mezeirib, 160 ; at Makam Ayyub, 198 ; at Tuffas, 217 ; 
at Tiberias, 266; at Et Tireh, 220; at Tsil, 229; at 
Zeizun, 238, 239, 240. 
'Irak, olp> " The Cliff," 8. See Wady el Ehreir. 

J- 

Jabbok river, 297. 

Jama'ah or Jami', "The Congregational Mosque," 

at 'Abdin, 42; Beit Akkar, 57; Sahem ej Jaulan, 98; Ed 
Dera'ah, 129 ; of Kul'ah 'Atikah at El Mezeirib, 159 ; 
at Tuffas, 210; Tsil, 223 ; of Weli Sakhret Ayyub at 
Sheikh-Sa'ad, 189; of Weli Sheikh Sa'ad 194; 
at Yedudeh, 231. 

Jamleh, <d*^, 74. 

J'arah, <*^, 153. 

Jarmoch, 8. 

Jaulan, £^J^> ancient capital of, 93, 

Ej Jebal, District of, JWh "The Hills," 4, 89. 

Jedeidah, &^.^> "The New." 279. 

Ej Jenaneh, 1, "The Little Garden," 76. 

Jerash, J^J-^j 292. 

Jewish Ornamentation and Architecture, 59, 173. 
Jillin, tft^, 154. 

Jim, the letter. Peculiarity of its pronunciation as a Shamsi- 

yeh among the Bedawin, 4. 
Jisr el 'Allan, "Bridge of the Allan," 16, 76. 

Jisr el Ehreir, 26, 154. 
Jisr er Rukkad, 13, 15, 77. 

Job, the Land of, and of his Friends, 179; his Bath, 193; 
his Grave, 197; his Monastery, 188, 196; his Rock, 
189, 191. 



332 



INDEX. 



K. 

Kanat Fara'un at Ed Dera'ah, ^jp-j* "Pharaoh's 

Aqueduct," 123. 
Karak of Ed Dera'ah, "a Citadel," 122. 

Kasr el 'Abd, J~*My&3 f "The Black Slave's Castle," 313. 
Kasr Berdawil, "Baldwin's Castle," 260. 
Kasr er Rabad, <j^l "The Castle of the Suburb," 

282, 285. 
Kaukab, S-^, " The Star," 83. 
Kefr Abil, Jsfl 278. 
Kefr el Ma, Ul 79 . 

Kefr es Samir, j-l^JI y£, "The Village of the Samari- 
tans," 185. 

El Kemiseh at Ed Dera'ah* 4~~^<J|, "The Church," 128. 
El Khan, near Nafa'ah, "The Caravanserai," 84. 

Khan el Ahmar, "The Red Caravanseria," 268. 
Khanzir, "The Pig," Monolith at Sheikh Sa'ad, 192. 
Khisfin, &£>~z*, 256. 
Khurbet Arkub er Rahwah, 43. 

Khurbet el Bireh, Sj^JI "Ruin of the Well," 301. 

Khurbet el Emheiris, <j-" ^^t^ 1 "The Ruin of the 

Watcher," 153. 

Khurbet Hammatah, "The Sycamore Ruin," 

11, 74. 

Khurbet ej Jebaliyeh, ^J^&M &}j&* t 156. 
Khurbet Jebeleh, &.J^> 155. 

Khurbet en Nileh, &lf^y "The Indigo Tree Ruin," 

180, 209. 

Khurbet er Rumaneh, djU^Jl Bijz*, "Ruin of the Pome- 
granite Tree," 301. 
Khurbet Saidy, ^^=> 62, 91. 



INDEX. 



333 



Khurbet Samakh, £*~ s 181. 
Khurbet es Sannin, ^^r*-^ ^ ^J^> 198. 
Khurbet Sar, & ^> 311. 

Khuwweh, or Brother-share, paid by the villagers to 

the Bedawin, 103. 

Kubur Beni Israil, Ji^' <^*4 J>>A "Graves of the Chil- 
dren of Israel," (Dolmens), 68. 

Kul'ah el Atikah, <^^\ d*l$, "The Old Castle/' 157. 

Kul'ah el Jedidah, ^JoJ^l <ub, "The New Castle," 162. 

Kul'ah er Rabad, J* )\ " The Castle of the Suburb," 

282, 285. 

Kum el Jauz, )^ f£ y " The Hillock of the Nut Tree," 
79- 

Kum el Kussub, ^-oiiJ! ^ « The Hillock of the Cane," 

33, 156. 
Kum el Mezeirib, 28, 164. 

Kum ez Zeyyatin, I " The Hillock of the Olive 

Merchants," 79. 
'El Kuneitrah, <^k^l, " The Little Bridge," 39. 
Kussub, or (in Hauran ; ) Kusseib, <-^^» or <—w^S, "Cane," 

32. 

Kuweyyeh, 12, 79. 

L. 

Lance-length, used as a measure for distances, in. 
Land of Uz, 179. 

M. 

" Magazine of Fruits," Province so called, 23. 
Makam Ayyub, S-^J f&*> " Job's Station," 197. 
Makam esh Sheikh el 'Ajamy, 118. 

See also under Wely. 



334 



INDEX. 



M'arri, v^*-*, 83. 

El M'asab, "The Girt," 166, 218, 

Medany, d^U, or "Minaret," — at 'Abdin, 42 ; 

Sahem ej Jaulan, 98; ed Dera'ah, 131; Nawa, 171; 

Tuffas, 210; Tsil, 224; Yedudeh, 231. 
Al Melek al 'Adil, his defeat near Beisan, 257. 
El Merkez, "The Centre " or " Camp," 40, 195. 

Mes'adiyeh, <SiJ**»Jl, "The Place of Ascent," 243, 252. 
El Mezeirib, "The Channels," 157. 

Mills, on the Shari'at el Menadireh, 1 2 ; Government Mill 

at El Mezeirib, 163. 

See also under Tahunet and Tawahin. 
Minaret and Mosque of Ajhln, 284. 

See also under Jama'ah and Medany. 
Mineral Oil, 100. 

Moyyet en Neby Ayyub, S^J V' "The Prophet 

Job's Stream," 34, 188. 
Moyyet esh Sheikh Sa'ad, "The Stream of Sheikh Sa'ad," 

another name for the above. 
Moyet Zeizun, 9, 30, 166, 235. 

See also under Nahr and Wady. 
Mudafy at Nawa, <^UbuJl, « The Guest-house," 169. 
El Mugharah, &J^\ t "The Caves," 205. 
Music among the Bedawin, 113. 
El Musreitiyeh, <hrij~~^\> 84. 

Mutasarrif (or Governor) of Hauran, his jurisdiction, 2. 

N. 

Nab, s->^> "an Eye-tooth," 256. 
En Na'eimeh, <**a*d1» 179. 
Nafa'ah, 84. 



INDEX. 



335 



Nahr el Allan, y&> " The Allan River," 16, 84. 

Nahrjahld, " Goliath's River," 268. 

Nahr er Rukkad> 10, 13, 84. 

, »S?^ also under Wady and Moyet. 
Nawa, 20, 167. 

Neby Abu el Hajjeh, ^ " The Prophet Abu 

1 Hajjeh's Grave," 180. 
Neby Hud, ^ ^ 3 "The Prophet Hud's Village," 294. 
Negroes, at Jillin, 155; at Sheikh Sa'ad, 187; at Tell el 

Ash'ary, 203 ; at Zeizun, 235. 
Nilacome of Hierocles, 180. 
En Nukrah District, a^oJI, "The Orbit," 23. 

O. 

Og, King of Bashan, 147, 297. 

Oleander or " Dafleh," 294, 296, 298, 312. 

P. 

Palm Trees in Palestine, 271. 
Pella, 272. 

Perfumes used among the Bedawin, 117. 

R. 

Rahab, underground city of, 309. 

Railway line between Haifa and Damascus, 24, 254 ; 
Bedawin view of its effect, 116. 

Ar Rakim, f^^\ 309. 

Ras el Ain, ^1 <j*>L>> "Head of the Spring," of El Me- 
zeirib, 36, 161, 180 ; of the Wady Babis, 181 ; of Zei- 
zun, 30, 32, 181. 

Ras Arkub er Rahwah, 43. 

Ras el Hal, JWI 6, 84. 



33^ 



INDEX. 



Rasm el Haurah, p^J, 85. 

Rice-cultivation, ancient, in Palestine, 270. 
Roads in Eastern Jaulan, 18; in Western Hauran, 37. 
Roman Remains, 49; Tomb (?), 88; Bath (?), 126 ; id. at 
Zeizun, 237. 

Roman Road, between the Bridges (Jisrs), 19, 77 ; and 

beyond, 37 ; near Yajuz, 303. 
The Rujms, Volcanic Mounds near Jamleh, p^), 

" Mound," 74. 
Rujm el Akrei'a, 86. 
Rujm Karian, p^J} 85. 

Rujm el Kheleif, <-jU*JI p*>, 151, 181. 
Rujm el Mushabbah, "Mound of the 

Adorned," 86. 

S. 

Sa'adiyeh, see Sheikh Sa'ad. 
Sacred Circles, 75. 

See also under Arab Circles. 
Sacred Squares, near Hamatah, 71. 
Sahem ej Jaulan, 19, 91. 

Sakhret Ayyub, <-r>>J &j&*e>> "The Rock of Job," 191. 
Sarcophagi, at 'Ain Janna, 289; at 'Amrawah, 117; at Ed 

Dera'ah, 131. 
Sarruj, &Jr>*> 300. 
Scythopolis of the Decapolis, 269. 
Segor, 317. 
Seisun, { ^)* A is^ > i 90. 

Serayah or Government House at Ed Dera'ah, 134; at El 

Merkez, 195. 
Set, the Egyptian God, Statue of (?), 82. 
Seven Sleepers, Story of, 311. 



INDEX. 



337 



Shari'at el Menadireh, Sj^UJI "The Passage of 

the Menadireh (Arabs)," 4, 6, 8, 90. 
Sheikh 'Abd Allah el Midyab, 88. 
Sheikh el 'Ajamy, 118. 

Sheikh Ibrahim el Midyab's House at Nawa, 174. 
Sheikh Muhammad el Ahsein of Kefr el Ma, 79. 
Sheikhs Muhammad and Ahmad, Aulad Hashish el Abbas, 
202. 

Sheikh Muhammad es Smeir, of the Anazeh Bedawin, 15, 

47 ; Description of Visit to him, 105 ; his Mills, 100. 
Sheikh Nimr ibn Gobelan, 305. 

Sheikh Sa'ad ibn 'Abd al Kader, the Soudanese Negro, 
154, 187. 

Sheikh Sa'ad (Town), £A 40, 187. 

Sheikh of Zeizun, the, 202. 

Esh Shejarah, "The Tree," 86: 

Shejarah esh Sheikh Ahsein, 86. 

Shem, the son of Noah, his Tomb, 178. 

Shuffet el Ekseir, 90. 

Siar, or Isiar, in Jaulan, j^>, " Sheepfolds," 3, 88. 

Sinn Nawa, ^y*, " Teeth of Nawa," 199. 

Es Sireh, or Siret ej Jisr, y~ sJ I & j-^ 5 , " The Causeway of 

the Bridge," 185. 
Snowfall, southern limit of, in Jaulan, 78, 90. 
Soil of the Eastern Hauran, 21. 
Statue at El 'Al, 255. 

Subterranean Chambers at Khurbet Samakh, 183. 

Suf, 290. 

Es Sufukiyeh, &*3yu=&), ^6. 

Sughar, j**<>9 or Sukar, i.e. Segor or Zoar, 318. 

Sultan Mahmud, 104. 
Sultan Selim, 157. 

22 



338 



INDEX. 



Synagogue, Ruins of, at Ed Dikkeh, 245 ; at Umm el Ka- 

natir, 264. 
Syrian Speculators in Grain, 22, 104. 

T. 

Tabakat Fahl, Js^ t^laJ=», "The Fahl Terraces," 272. 
Tabariyeh, Qy^, 99. 

Tahunet Abu Daliyeh, ^Jlj ^ di^lL, «Abu Daliyeh's 
Mill," 218. 

Tahunet el Ghazaleh, d^lL, I7) ioo . 

Tahunet Jamleh, 15,101. 

Tahunet el Midyab, «-r*J^' <tip*Uo, 35, 219. 

Tahunet es Sufukiyeh, d^3yu^\ &p>U=, 219. 

Tahunet Umm Babein, ^ dJ^U^, "The Mill with 

the Two Gates," 219. 
Tahunet ez Z'abeh, j3 1 dj^lL, 33^ 199. 
Taiyibet Lism, <k 5 -J= > > 35, 221. 

Tawahin el Arshediyat (MiU\), c^IjJ^;^! y+fiP^jfc* 37? 
218. 

Tawahin el Biariyat, ta^U^I o-^l^' 37' 2 °5' 2181 
Tawahin ej Jalufy wa Zakzuk, <jj>*> J dijWI 
218. 

Tawahin el Mughr, 

yj) 219. 
Tawahin Sabihah, Aa.fro gaP*^, 218. 
Tawahin esh Sheikh Muhammad el 'Anazeh, 100. 
Tawahin et Tell, ^ v^>> "The Mills of the Hill," 
30, 199. 

Tawahin el Wady, <£^\j}\ &^jh> 218. 
Telegraph line, 38; Station at El Merkez, 198. 
Tells, Volcanic (Hills), 69. 

See also under Rujm. 



INDEX. 



339 



Et Tell, JsJI, "The Hill/' 244. 

Tell 'Ameidun, el Fokaneh, and el Tahtaneh, $ J? 

^Us^l ) ^Uyil, "The upper and the lower Hill 

of 'Ameidun, 219. 
Tell el 'Arar, 203. 
Tell el Ash'ary, <^j**>N 203. 
Tell 'Ashtarah, \j£~>£> J?, 209. 
Tell Buruk, <J^ J 5 ? 220. 

Tell el Ehdeib, n-i^JM JJ, "Humpback Hill" (?), 6, 84. 

Tell el Ferdawy, ^IvJ^flJI Ja, ioo . 

Tell el Harah, J*, 16. 

Tell el Hawy, v^UJI J 5 . 100. 

Tell ej Jabiyeh, ^ UJ1 J*, 20, 230. 

Tell ej Jamid, J*, 100. 

Tell ej Jemu'ah, dS^JI J?, "The Hill of Rendezvous," 
104, 230. 

Tell el Khamman, J*, 179, 203. 

Tell el Mukarim, p?V<J1 Jj, 199. 

Tell el Muntar, J>, " The Hill of the Watcher," 259. 

Tell es Seif, <-*Wl Jj, "Hill of the Sword," 221. 
Tell es Semen, ^j*^ J*, " Hill of Clarified Butter," 221. 
Tell esh Shaghur, J>\ 317. 

Tell esh Shehab, c^l^&ll Jj, « Hill of the Warrior," 20. 
29, 199. 

Tell ez Zeituneh, J>, " Hill of the Olive Tree," 256. 

Tellul el Hesh, jjfr, "Hills of the Palm Grove," 

231. 

Tellul Kana'an, J^f, "Hills of Canaan," 199. 

Tiah Beit Akkar, tW 3 , "Cascades of Beit 

Akkar," 17, 101. 
Et Tireh, Sj^l "The Fort," 220. 



22 — 2 



34© 



INDEX. 



Tomb, Ancient, at Sahem ej Jaulan, 98 ; at Esh Shejarah, 
87. 

See also under Sarcophagi. 
Trees in Eastern Jaulan, 5 ; in Western Hauran, 24. 
Tribes, Arab. See under 'Arab, Beni, and Wulid. 
Tsil, 222. 
Tuffas, J*&, (?) 210. 
Turrah, (?) 199. 

U. 

Ukht, or Protected Village, "Sister," 103. 

Umm el 'Ajaj, fl, "Place of Battles," 251. 

Umm el Kanatir, ^UiJI ^1, « place of Arches," 260. 
Underground City, of Ed Dera'ah, 135. 

See also under Rahab and Ar Rakim. 

Urjan, c)W^, 280. 
Usurers, of the Towns, 104. 

W. 

Wady 'Ain Dakkar. See Wady Seisun. 
Wady el 'Ajamy, ^.^♦^^ 36; of the Ehreir, 26. 

Wady Babis, J*<& <g^}> 36. 
Wady el Bajjeh, <*s*^ <£^h> 9, 27. 
Wady Beit Akkar, «^ <^l>> 17, 53. 
WadyedDahab, <$^>> "The Valley of Gold," 

230, 232. 

Wady ed Daliyeh, &t)\^\ " The Valley of the Vine- 

tendril," 253. 
Wady el Ehreir, jlj^^ <g^b> 9> 2 5- 
Wady el Emheiris, <^ a b> 37- 

Wady Fahl, J®** 277. 

Wady el Ghar, J^) i$**b> "The Valley of the Cave/' 
85, 102. 



INDEX. 



34i 



Wady ej Jebeleh, <*W1 18, 36. 

Wady Jeramaya, &S*y^ s£^L?> 253. 
Wady Kefr es Samir, j^^Jl ^ <^3^, 34. 
Wady Keleit, 10, 11, 101. 

Wady Khalla or Khalli, ^ ^!>, 301. 
Wady Khreiyan, ^^LP* 28, 231. 

Wady Ku'eilby, *^l?> 10, 101. 

Wady el Lubwah, Sj-AM S? J b> 34, 35- 
Wady el Meddan, <^b> 231. 

Wady el Mughr, s£ J l>> 101. 

Wady Riyashi, <^ (> > <^^> 296. 

Wady es Saffah, £&«JI s£ J l?> " The Valley of the 
Slayer," 253. 

Wady es Samak, t^~JJ ^l?> "Valley of the Fish," 254. 

Wady Seisun, ^x^t^ v£^l?> i3> J 5> io2 - 

Wady Shaeb el Hawwar, ^[^a^ <-_**^a s£^l?> 102. 

Wady esh Sha'eib, s-^*^ <£^b> 101. 

Wady Shebib, v^l?> 253. 

Wady esh Shefeil, J*A^uM <^l> 33- 

Wady esh Shelaleh, ^AiJI "The Valley of the 

Cascades," 9, 25, 37. 
Wady esh Shukeiyif, <-M*Jl "The Valley of the 

Little Boulders," 254. 
Wady Sir, yt*=> s£^l?> 311. 
Wady Tell el Ash'ary (or Ehreir), 26, 204. 
Wady Tell esh Shehab (or Wady et Tell), 9, 25, 29. 
Wady 'Uleika, <&t^> v^l?> 101. 
Wady Umm el Madaris, j^^uM <^a\j, 315. 
Wady el Yabis, ^hU^ 33- 
Wady Yabis, <^L>, 278. 

Wady Zeidy, S^i) ^ J b> 9> I2 3- 



342 



INDEX. 



Wady ez Zeyyatin, M The Valley of the Oil- 

Merchants," 10, 102. 

Waterfall, of the Wady Seisun, 15 ; of the Wady el Bajjeh, 
29 ; of the Moyet Zeizun, 32. 

Wely en Neby Sam at Nawa, pt* s£**^ S^' "The 
Shrine of the Prophet Shem," 176. 

Wely Sakhret Ayyub, "The Shrine of Job's Rock," 189. 

Wely esh Sheikh Sa'ad, "The Shrine of Sheikh Sa'ad," 194. 

Wely (Shrine) of the Sheikh Muhiy ed Din en Nawawy, 175* 

Western Hauran, general description of, ^JjP»y 20. 

Women, their position among the Wulid 'Ali, in. 

Wulid 'Ali es Smeir (Tribe), 22, 103. 

Y. 

El Yahudiyeh, <*i^>&^j 253. 

Yajuz, j>j®i, (?) 304. 

El Yedudeh, &«*>>*M, 231. 

Yenbut (Shrub), 298, 299. 

Yublah, <^i, 235. 

Yusuf Dia Pasha, 162. 

Z. 

Ez Zawiyeh esh Shurkiyeh (Eastern Jaulan), general de- 
scription of, <uSyiJI " The Eastern Angle," 3. 

Note. — The accent is on the i in Zawiyeh. 

Zerka River, "The Blue," 297, 308, 311. 

EzZeituneh, &y*l$\ "The Olive Tree," 256. 

Zeizun, e)J>>0> 235. 

Zoar, 317. 

Zughar, 318. 

Zumleh Hills, 122. 

Ez Zuweit, <^0)JV, "The Little Olive," 179. 

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